selfless sacrifices

To truly be selfless you must go against what you would naturally do and do for someone else what they would like or want. In a movie I saw years ago, the damsel states to the honorable knight, if you love me you will lose. As his friends looked on and saw him not winning they asked him what he was doing...his response was "losing". Even though he wanted to win he chose to lose for her. How many times do I do something "nice" for someone when its on "my terms?". Sacrifice isn't just about the deed but how it affects the doer. When you know someone does something purely for you, that's when it means the most...not the gift or how much it cost but the thought and effort and true sacrifice to give that gift. That was the case just a few days ago, on my birthday. I am officially 34 yrs old now. It was a great birthday. My presents consisted of some wonderful homemade cards from the kids and a Kitchen Aid food processor along with some homemade cupcakes. Yes, I loved all the presents and the effort and love put into them but the one out of all of them that truly touched me the most, was the cupcakes. It wasn't just that my husband cooked them for me, it was the fact that he doesn't bake but he made them anyway. He might cook hot dogs, pancakes, grilled cheese or open a can of chili or baked beans but his cooking repertoire is very small and lacking...and that's OK. I'm always thankful when he does do some cooking. But to make the cupcakes, he went totally out of his comfort zone. He found a recipe, made sure to get all the ingredients and woke up early and baked them before I woke up. When I got up, handed to me was a warm, perfectly shaped cupcake. At that point, I was very confused. It took me a while to figure out how that little cupcake was warm and then how it came into being in the first place. Once all the pieces came together and Dave told me his plan of how he was to implement the cupcake making mission, I started to cry. I didn't cry over the food processor, although, its an AWESOME one and I CAN'T wait to use it...the cupcakes, to me, was a sacrifice that was truly selfless and was something I knew Dave did just for me. It made me feel very special and loved. So while your "special someone" may cook for you all the time or not at all, notice what they don't want to do but do it for you anyway. You might be surprised at all the selfless sacrifices we do for each other everyday :)