Help

She purchased a chair that would not fit in the back of her car. But the neighbors have a truck. Could she borrow the truck to go pick up the new chair? Of course.

I’ll be out of town for three weeks can you mow the lawn and feed my cat? Let’s barter I’ll bring you three dinners.

The new parents needed a night off. Friends offered to watch their infant so they could have a night out. What they really needed was some sleep so they checked into a motel and slept through the night for the first time in weeks.

After surgery she needed to stay on bed rest. Meals were organized. Every day someone else brought dinner to feed body and stayed for a visit to feed soul.

We are ready to help each other all the time but it’s hard to be the one asking. It’s so much easier to give than receive. Why? Is it a cultural thing? Have we grown to be so independent we seek solutions that bother no one. We hire a sitter, order take out, pay a lawn service rather than tell a neighbor “I need your help.” There are hidden needs all around us. I am often amazed at the burdens people are willing or forced to carry alone for want of asking.

Turns out in a loving community there are all kinds of people ready and willing to help. We want a chance to “be there” for each other. Recently I took a trip to promote my new book, Come On In. I went home to visit in Colorado and had several book signing parties. Friends and family were more than willing to help me set these parties in motion. They wanted to help, they want to see me succeed and sell many books. I was reluctant to ask. If I had trouble asking friends and family to help how much harder to ask God? It’s tough sometimes. Am I talking to a brick wall? I can’t see God. When I call a friend and ask for help there may be a pause on the phone line before they say yes or no but when I send a pray to God there is only silence. Sure he has heard me and he has an answer for me however there is no voice reaching out from the heavens to say “Okay I’ll be there at 6 with dinner.” I have to trust the unseen, a scary leap of faith.

What’s my point? I need to ask God for help, he’s the best provider there is and besides he already knows what I’m after in the first place. However that does not make it any easier for me to ask. I suggest we practice by asking each other for help whenever and wherever possible. After all the neighbors we seek are really the hands and feet of God doing his best to take care of us.

Posted 7/17/2007 @ 10:05 AM | Weekly Thoughts