Tell me You're Helpless without me!

My sister recently sent me a 'have-a great-week' care package which included two candles, a great hand lotion and this amazingly hysterical sticky notepad. Would you just take a good look at that woman !?!??! "She was comforted by the knowledge that they were helpless without her" HA!!!!!! With a bit of a sheepish face I'll admit it...sometimes I think this! (maybe that's why she sent it...it's a joke right?....wait...right?)

I was out sick yesterday but guess what. The whole office just kept on running. Nothing really fell apart...hmmm. Maybe I'm not as required 24/7 as I thought. At first I thought, "Man, did they even notice I was gone? Are you telling me I wasn't really needed?" Then I thought, "Wow, how great that a team works so well that when one link is missing for a day or even a month, the whole team pulls together and makes the train keep on barreling down the track". When I'm out of the office because of illness, I usually let that psychosis of guilt keep me from resting...Ohhh, I should be there, I could make it if I really tried...there always the restrooms along the way....but maybe it's okay to just stay in the bed and concentrate on getting better.

There is the need to be needed and then there is that icky pride thing that makes us think no one else can do what we do as well as we do it. I say we all need a good whippin' when that kind of pride sneaks in. I'm probably way more guilty of this than anyone I know but I think God likes watching us grow and become...and in pride of any kind, there is lots of room for growth.

Ego Monster

Have you ever attempted to identify your God given gifts? Are you a good listener? Are you amazingly generous? Maybe you're a dynamo at relating to everyone at every age in every situation (man that's a good one). I think I've identified mine...hospitality! What's better than having a bunch of people over to your house and you get to prepare your favorite foods; especially if they plan to stay overnight. You get to put out the red carpet, make sure to tell them to sleep till their hearts content and you get to put out those little juice glasses which double as brushing-your-teeth glasses complete with a folded white paper towel underneath each glass. (Wow, I need therapy!) I'm sorry, this stuff is just so much fun to me...to make someone feel welcomed is the best feeling ever!!! But why is this? Growing up Lutheran, I made sure (a la Martin Luther) to have sufficient and dutiful doubt about the genuineness of my every action....(sometimes a healthy exercise.) Just when I was about to enjoy having done something nice for someone, I'd bite my lip and start the wondering. "What's more important to me? Having that new neighbor enjoy that pie or is it hoping that as I walk away from their front door they're thinking, 'Man, she the nicest neighbor ever!' ewwwww! I don't fret about this as much now (thankfully) but ever so often this questioning rears it's ugly and annoying head. Lucky for me though, today's revelation is that no matter what my intention in a hospitable action, the recipient gets the same result...being loved on, paid attention to and God is working through me in spite of whatever my intention is. So I'll keep on trying to be nice and I'll keep trying to do it for the right reasons. But if that ego monster gets in the way once in a while, I'll smile knowingly as God makes the best of it!