A good meal goes a long way
It has been a week! I shared yesterday that I have been in a lot of pain and trying to find a way to get relief. I have had pity party after pity party and been beyond frustrated. Today I finally got some relief thanks to calling in a help line with a trusted friend and physical therapist. I had a heartwarming laugh when my mom showed up at the docs after stalking me and being upset that I drove myself (by the way, she insisted she drive me home-always a mom!) The day got even better when I came home to an amazing meal being prepared. I was told to go rest and dinner would be ready at 6. Boy was dinner ready at 6. The challenge I have living in my home is that Rob is such an amazing cook that restaurants pale in comparison. Tonight was supposed to be date night at a steak house, but with my back, we knew it would not be a comfortable night. Instead, Rob brought surf and turf to me at home. It made the perfect ending to a very hard week. Moms are usually the care givers in the family and when mom goes down, it feels like the whole household is disrupted. My suffering means we all suffer-whether I intend it or not. This week, as much as it was painful, was a precious gift of forcing me to pause, to rest, and to allow myself to be cared for versus me caring for others. My family was all hands on deck, and I didn’t have to ask. Instead of getting frustrated at my lack of abilities, I felt surrounded in love. And then 6 o’clock came and I sat down to a spectacular meal and instead of cleaning the kitchen afterwards, I was sent to bed to rest. This week I was surrounded by people valued my well being over self. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV)
Selfless versus Selfish
Rob and I sit on the front porch every morning to drink our coffee/tea. We have this wonderful bird feeder that brings in a variety of birds…and squirrels. The neat thing about it is that when a squirrel tries to eat from it, its weight closes the access to the bird seed inside the feeder. They still have access to the food that gets dropped by the other birds, but the majority of it is saved for the birds to eat since they lightly land on the feeder and don’t close the access to the bird seed. That is, they don’t usually close the access to the bird seed. In recent days, we have been visited by a large flock of starlings. Sometimes as many as 10-12 at a time. The Starlings are a bit larger than many of the other birds that grace us with their presence, and in larger numbers they all try to pile on the feeder at the same time. When they do, the access to the bird seed gets closed and they start fighting with each other to see who gets the bird seed. When only one or two are left, the others having left in frustration, the feeder becomes light enough again that they can access the bird seed. All they need to do for all of them to get the seed is to be patient and wait their turn. If they were more selfless, they would get their food. By being selfish and fighting with their fellow birds for the seed, the majority of them end up missing a meal. What a great illustration of the benefit of being selfless versus selfish. It is not about choosing to be selfless for your interest, but about being humble and valuing others above self. In doing so, the rewards often go above anything you could have gained while acting selfishly. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV).