“A Little Boy’s Ultimate Sacrifice”

Occasionally I come across short inspirational stories from time to time that inspire me enough to re-share them in my blog. The following is one of those, which I found on the “Godwinks” Facebook page, and I’ve titled it “A Little Boy’s Ultimate Sacrifice.”

The baby girl lay near death, critically injured in an automobile accident. She desperately needed a blood transfusion, but no one could be found who shared her rare blood type. In the midst of their frantic search, the doctors actually discovered that her seven-year old little brother Kevin had the right type of blood. Anxious to proceed, one of the doctors sat down with Kevin and talked quietly with him. “Your sister is very sick, son,” he said, “and if we don’t help her, she’s not going to live. I want to know…are you willing to give your blood to help your baby sister?” His face pale with fear, Kevin seemed to struggle with his answer. But after a few moments, he said softly, “Yes, I will.” The little boy then watched sadly and silently as his blood flowed from his arm through the tube. “We’re almost finished,” the doctor smiled encouragingly. Kevin’s eyes filled with tears. “How long till I die?” he whispered back. Looking at him in amazement, the doctor realized that Kevin thought he had been asked to give all his blood to save his sister. That brave little boy had believed that his act of mercy for his sister would cost him his life. Yet…he had still been willing to do it!

When I first read this story, it brought tears to my eyes. I can only imagine what must have been going through that boy’s mind as he watched the blood leaving his body, seeing that he didn’t understand the full procedure. But that’s precisely what makes this story so inspirational. He loved his sister that much that he was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice, his life, to save hers.

It’s not often in life that people seem willing to sacrifice much of anything these days except when it might benefit them somehow. Sadly, that really does seem to be the norm with so many and it’s actually not that difficult to look around and see all the selfishness and self-centeredness that continues to pervade our world. Thankfully though, there are still individuals out there from young to old, who go against that norm and provide selfless sacrifices in their lives to help another, just like this little boy did to save his sister’s life.

In light of that, it’s my hope that when I’m called upon one day to make a similar sacrifice of my own, that I have the strength and courage to follow through and selflessly help another just like a little boy named Kevin did for his sister…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Daily Reflection

“The greatest gift that one human being can give another is unconditional love. It’s the only thing, ultimately, that really matters.” (Joy Gardner)

I have a friend in recovery who I feel has truly been demonstrating what unconditional love looks like. For almost a year now, he’s repeatedly commuted two hours back and forth every other Saturday to visit someone he’s sponsoring in recovery that was incarcerated back in 2016. While that may not seem like a big deal at first glance, it’s important to note that he’s only allotted up to twenty-five minutes of time to connect with his sponsee once there and that can even turn into as little as eight minutes if others travel with him for the visit as well. But that seems to matter very little to my friend. What matters more is showing his sponsee that someone actually loves them unconditionally, which is also done in between his visits, by paying for his sponsee’s phone calls to him and by writing frequent letters to them too.

My friend has no hidden agenda for any of his actions here nor does he have any type of angle. It merely is something that comes from his heart and I have seen it plenty of times myself during the few years I’ve known him thus far. I was pretty impressed when I listened to him share with me recently a story where he had worked 12+ hours one day and was totally exhausted. As on that day, he chose to still stay up and launder his partner’s work clothes, seeing how they were already fast asleep and how their clothes had special cleaning instructions. And then even after that, he made sure to be awake a mere four hours later just to see his partner get to their new job on time.

To me, my friend’s actions speak to much of what I believe Christ attempted to convey two thousand years ago when he said the most important lesson was for us to love each other. I feel my friend’s actions are definitely doing that, as they seem to arise deep from within his heart and soul and emanate outward with nothing but a pure joy for serving others.

I really admire this friend for his daily actions that resonate on a frequency I feel would make God proud. I personally strive these days to live like this as well, but have struggled at times to fully make the shift, seeing how long I lived with either conditional love or no love at all. Sadly, there was a time where I wouldn’t have driven even 10 minutes away to visit a friend in jail, let alone stay up past the point of exhaustion to take care of anyone’s laundry. So, thank God for people like my recovery buddy, who day-to-day remind me of what unconditional love looks like. Because it’s people like him, who more than not, serve the world before themselves, and that keep the teachings of Christ alive and well in a world that ultimately needs it now more than ever.

I pray I may be filled with Christ’s unconditional love in all my thoughts, in all my words, and in all my actions, and that I may be emptied of everything else.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson