Sisterly Sacrifice...Nun-Tastic Day 2

     When you ask certain people what their meaning of sacrifice is, you will most likely get mixed answers. For some, sacrifice is merely giving up mustard on their sandwich so that someone else can have the last squeeze, but for others it's giving up half a sandwich for the other homeless guy sitting next to him. The same goes for when you pose a certain question to people asking them if it's a sacrifice. Like if you ask a normal college student who is on Christmas break if getting up at 6 am is a sacrifice, they will most likely say YES and don't do wake me up til after 12. But for me, I really don't think twice about it. Now see, right now, most of you reading are thinking I'm talking about getting up early for Mass. Well, wrong. Usually, at home, going to daily Mass means sleeping in til 8:45. So WHY was I up at 6 am? To begin the saga of the missing school shoe. That's right, I was looking for my little sister's school shoe. LOOOOOOOOOONG story short: on her last day of school before break, she got changed in the car and left her shoes there. They didn't leave the car until I decided to clean it out. However, in cleaning the car out only one shoe made it in the house. And so, this morning, at the crack of dawn (literally), I was on my hands and knees, scouring the car for the lost shoe. And when I finally found it, I placed it with my sister's uniform and said nothing about it. My sister said nothing about it, either. And yet, while some might get really upset at the fact that their sister even woke them up, much less have to LOOK for the shoe and THEN, to get no thanks in return? Psh, the nerve. But really, that whole fiasco was something that, as the oldest, I was supposed to do. And in my family, especially, many might call the numerous things I do, sacrifices. But for me, that's daily life. And it's not a sacrifice at all. So, after the saga took place, I got to thinking (in the hour that I still had before actually having to do anything), what do I consider sacrifices? And today's nun-tastic adventure has plenty of examples.
     First things first. After Mass, I headed straight to a volunteer job I randomly picked up at the request of a friend. The volunteer job seemed easy enough; taking inventory in the book store. It seemed that way until I got there. First, it didn't look like a convent at all. Then I came to learn that the book store got sold because the community couldn't afford it anymore so it was now in their garage. THEN, I came to learn that their little tiny teeny chapel is in their basement. As I learned, I took it all in and thought about the sacrifices these sisters made. Finally, we headed to take inventory...in the garage. I might add that today was the coldest day this winter so far and the garage is outside. Luckily, the sisters have been blessed with semi warm winter weather (alliteration!!) but today and tomorrow, when the one able-bodied sister solely will be working on the inventory are the coldest. NOW THAT, my dear, is sacrifice. Braving the frigid, winter, air just to count so that the community can have an income. Sacrifice.
    Secondly, I headed to one of my favorite shrines inbetween nun hopping today: Katharine Drexel. She was my first saint influence and visiting her shrine always, always makes me feel secure in my vocation. I love to look into the display case of her habit, the real one she wore, and find myself in it. We were the same five foot, you know. I look at her shoes and see my feet in them and then I see her ring, the same size as my finger. So many imagine her as tall and strong and mighty, but I know, she was petite, and humble, and gentle. She made so many sacrifices for her sisters, especially for her own personal self. The shoes she wore, she hand sewed every time the leather teared. They were her only pair of shoes her whole convent life. And her pencils; used to the very stub. She is my perfect sacrificing model.
     Thirdly, I went back to visit my High School nuns who just continually sacrifice their time for me. I'm telling you that those sisters are the busiest people I've met and yet, they barely stress out and always give me the time of day. Tonight was yet another saga of finding my nun in the school, actually my nun to sit down, planning a trip to the pet store, actually finding the pet store, buying a fish tank heater, installing said fish tank heater, learning how to hang bird feeders in trees from windows with a stick (oi), planning crayon melting art days with my AE, dropping office book insides all over Chapel, eating supper, watching the news, reading People magazine, complaining about school AND finally walking to the car in the FRIGID AIR. Yep, this woman made an awful amount of sacrifices for me today. And that's how I know I'm family. By sacrifice.
     I mean, I "sacrifice" for my sister at 6 am, the sister from the book store sacrificed for her sisters, Katharine Drexel sacrificed for her sisters, and my nun, sacrificed for me, her sister. I guess that's the common theme of the day: Sisterly Sacrifice.