First, my apologies for not replying to comments nor visiting from last week's FMF. It was a hard week, and I spent a good part of it without the sight in my left eye due to an infection pressing on the optic nerve. I can sort-of see again, but it's still a fuzzy world.
This week's word is HELP.
I can do this myself!
No, I can't. Not anymore. I need help dressing, and bathing. Food comes from a box, sometimes via the microwave...and I used to be able to copy recipes like Alice Springs Chicken from scratch.
So, yes, I'm required to ask for help in a lot of things.
AND if that weren't enough I'm supposed to accept it gracefully!
Wait, There's more.
I'm still supposed to help people, even while wearing the humiliation of being helped myself.
Sheesh. This is just so...WRONG.
What the heck is God up to, here?
Could it be that this presumptuous Deity of ours is actually trying to make me a better person?
The nerve of Him!
He already created me perfect to begin with!
When I get to Heaven, God...we will have words.
Oh. Okay, then.
He's just reminded me that we can have all the words I want, but I'll be outnumbered Three to one...and one of those I won't be able to see.
Sigh.
So...anybody need a hand with anything?
The musical accompaniment for this post is...wait for it...
Marley update...he's received a lot of support, but STILL NEEDS HELP TO BE SAVED.
WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!
If you have a mment, I'd like to ask you to visit Change.org to consider a petition to free a 'death row dog' who has been separated from his family for ten months over a misunderstanding. Marley was saved from Afghanistan by a US serviceman; please help make sure this story doesn't end in needless tragedy! Marley's gotten a lot of support...but he still needs our help.
If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.
Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.
Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.
I laughed reading this, because I was thinking of the same lines-- all the way down to the musical accompaniment!! i'm the absolute worst at accepting help. I'm awful at it. I want to do it all! by! myself! The thing about humility-- either you humble yourself, or you're going to be HUMILIATED therefore HUMBLED (a preacher I heard recently talked about the connection between these two words!). So, I'm starting to learn it's better to be humble upfront and accept the help than try to do it all myself, screw up and embarrass myself trying-- and having to accept the help in the first place.
ReplyDeleteHelp is hard. But it's good.
Love ya, friend.
Jordan, thank you...and the learning is sure hard!
DeleteLove you too. You're a treasure.
You made me smile Andrew. That's been difficult to do lately. So thank you! I am sure I will have words for God too, He will probably toss the Bible at me and say "already answered, NEXT" :) LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to give you a smile, Marisa. You are in my daily prayers.
DeleteWhen God throws the Bible at you, throw it right back and tell Him He should have put in an index!
So glad you are here.
You made me smile Andrew. That's been difficult to do lately. So thank you! I am sure I will have words for God too, He will probably toss the Bible at me and say "already answered, NEXT" :) LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that, Marisa.
DeleteI'm not always great at accepting help either. I think it's something that most of us are not especially good at. So glad you're still here. Oh and the song....its what prompted my post too. I didn't share the Eagles version but a version from Mumford and Sons. I'm in the #5 spot this week.
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough thing to do, Tara. But the nice thing is that doing it once, in a small way, makes it easier the next time.
DeleteSo glad to be here, and so glad YOU are here!
Awww, Andrew. We had similar angles for tonight's word. Kind of. You just took it a lot deeper and to a more personal level. :) I'm thankful for your humour, and for your perspective. It IS hard to need help and to accept it graciously. Especially when there was so much you could do before. I'm so thankful for your words here.
ReplyDeleteAnd great song pick!
Loved your post this week, Jeanne, and the way you wrapped it up with a good, solid question. You are so good at that!
DeleteAnd I am delighted that you liked the song!
I think it's hard for most of us to admit and accept help, but I guess God has more to teach us. I want you to know that you are an inspiration and I included you in my post. Blessings to you! http://www.gaylswright.com/2016/07/21/help-comes-unexpectedly/
ReplyDeleteGayl, I am honoured beyond words that you included me in your writing. Truly.
DeleteMy cup overflows with blessings, in the form of dear friends like you. Friends I will never meet in this life, but whose hearts hold me up.
Pride, Andrew, prIde... and when you get to heaven? Guess what? HELP will be the furthest thing from your mind! Because you'll be eye-to-eye with HIM. Love you Merc.... always. xo
ReplyDeleteSusan, you are so right! And when I get there, the light of love I will be carrying from the end of this life will be so bright, God better be wearing shades!
DeleteLove you, my friend. XOXOXO WaggyWaggyWaggyWOOF!
That silly God always wanting to make us better people, lol. Oh my but wouldn't we be lost without Him? God bless you dear friend as you (and we all) learn a little more humility through life's circumstances. Hugs and love
ReplyDeleteHugs and love back, Christy...and yeah, we'd be lost without Him.
DeleteAnd in a way He'd be feeling a little lost without us, because why else would He make the sacrifice from which he spared Abraham?
A God who, in a way, needs us? A God whose Heart we can break? Wow.
So glad you're here!
Good morning Andrew. It is so hard for me to accept help, and unfortunately I taught that to my older kids. Our almost 3-year old must be listening because he's telling me I can do it by myself.
ReplyDeleteHope the eye continues to get better Andrew. Hang in there.
The we get to Heaven we aren't going to need help and I think we will be so busy praising we are going to forget to ask Him all those questions we are asking here on earth.
Yes, Deborah...and sometimes don't kids learn the fastest the stuff we'd most rather they NOT do? (Did that make sense?)
DeleteWorks with dogs, too. We have a little terrier named Bella whom we pulled out of a ditch, her back broken. She is re-learning to walk, but she wants to learn HER way. Cross her, and you can lose a finger, easy. But she can get up[ on her hind legs now...by herself. (And the spine was not just fractured...it was displaced. The vet said it is an ongoing miracle.)
And I think you're right...all those questions that seem so important (who REALLY killed JFK?), we're gonna forget all about them when we get there.
So glad you're here!
From Hope to help, great post, Andrew. And isn't the inability to ask for help what keeps us distant from Jesus?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Harrison Ford moment is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he's trying to save his father. "Only the penitent shall pass." The Biblical truths that were hidden in that movie were wonderful!
Since my word for the year has been humble, it has most definitely included asking for help.
Blessings, Andrew! So glad you are feeling well enough to joke again!
"Why do seagulls fly over the sea? Because if they flew over the bay, they'd be bay-gulls."
Oy, vey, Tammy! Bay-gulls. Yikes.
DeleteGood point about the inability to ask for help keeping us from Jesus...and the Indiana Jones quote wraps it up perfectly. Loved that.
So glad you are here today!
hi andrew, yes, i joined many of the others in laughing...not just at you, but at my crazy silly self. a few years back i was incapacitated with a rash of seizures....for 4 years. no matter what they tried, they couldn't get them under control very well. of course, i couldn't drive and sometimes when a person would come to pick me us, i would be lying on the floor, unconscious from having had still another seizure:( i hated it. but no matter how many offered help, do you think i took it? not for the first year or two! then i came to realize there were some i didn't want to help me, others i was scared to death to ride with, etc, etc,! the bottom line was...for me it often came down to pride. i was glad to help others. didn't like needing help. ugh! i didn't enjoy that piece of insight...at all!
ReplyDeletethat's the hard thing about illness, weakness and hard times. they show us up for who we really are. not always fun. not sure what you see of yourself, i'm just telling you what i saw in myself. receiving help is hard...especially when we really need it.
blessings andrew. i'm at 46 today if you care to visit.
martha, wow...what a powerful truth! I am so grateful to you for sharing this experience, and how it shed light on the whole 'asking for help/accepting help' paradigm. You're awesome!
DeleteI truly appreciate you, Martha. Thank you.
I have these kinds of exchanges with the Almighty myself! This post made me smile. I don't know if that was the intention, but I felt a great relief knowing that we go through this life so connected to others with our feelings. God created us so beautifully. I don't know your entire story, Andrew, but I'm sure as heck glad to have come here today. I'm still struggling with exchanging snippets with God. And he has grace enough for us all. Have a beautiful weekend. xxx
ReplyDeleteAnd I am so glad you're here, Carolina! I agree that God did a wonderful job in making us...especially with hands and arms that we can use to form a human chain above the darkest abyss.
DeleteHope your weekend is wonderful as well, and XXX back to you! :)
You've brought a welcome smile to my face after a full day. A fun and true post. Thanks Andrew.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Deborah! And I am so glad you're here.
DeleteI do think we all need "a little help from our friends" every once in a while! And, whether or not you see it, Andrew...you ARE helping a lot of people with your writing!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, as always for bearing your soul and sharing!!
Barbara, thank you for this...your words mean the world to me.
DeleteWell, everything I would have said has been said from great post to you made me laugh and smile. Yes, I love how God sees us through. I loved your sense of humor. What is something new I can add now? Well, thanks for stopping by with your encouragement.
ReplyDeleteMary, thank YOU for stopping by here. I truly believe that each person who reads these words, even without commenting, bounces something off the Almighty that helps me keep going. And so I truly appreciate every reader, and every comment.
DeleteThank you!
I am very excited to check out your PTSD book. My sister has been diagnosised with it. Her's is a little different as it is not the result of being a Vet. Yet I know the more I can understand the better I can love her.
ReplyDeleteMrs, Backes, thank you so much for stopping by, and it's my earnest hope that my book will help your sister.
DeleteShe is luck to have you.
Do you think it's harder for men to accept help than for women? Just wondering what your take is on this!
ReplyDeleteLinda, that's an excellent question.
DeleteI think that generally men have a harder time asking for help but an easier time accepting it, while it's reversed for women.
Clear as mud, right?
What I mean is that women seem to be more competitive in terms of standards and performance, and that a woman may ask for help but be more likely to compare it to what she would have done.
Men find it hard to ask for help, but when they get past it they will just let the helper get on with it...and often never check his work.
Massive generalization, I know, but it does coincide with what I have seen.
Thanks so much for being here!
Marie, thank you! Your posts always encourage me, and always make me think.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, yeah, yeah...the Fab Four are the best!
Stopping by from FMF! I love your candor! I've not seen you on FMF before, but glad I found you as I am interested in reading some of your books. Thanks again for your thoughts and that in spite of health issues, you are sharing and using your gifts to edify others. Take care!
ReplyDeleteLeigh, thank you so much! I am so glad you're hear, and would be grateful for any feedback on the books, if you care to look through them.
DeleteAndrew, stopping by from FMF. Thank you for your honesty and humor. You're right - even when we need help we also need to extend it! And that 3-to-1 thing? That's great! Sometimes I wonder if we'll get to heaven and forget every question we ever had for God, because 1) we'll finally have eyes to see as He does and it will all make sense, or 2) we'll be so overwhelmed in His presence it won't matter any more. Thank you for that. I am praying for you!
ReplyDeleteShauna, thank you...you said this so perfectly, how we'll forget every question we may have had!
DeleteI needed this boost of humor, Andrew, thank you! I'm happy every week to see your blog linked up! Prayers always.
ReplyDeleteCarrie, thank you. I'm glad to be here too. It's been a heck of a week.
DeleteGod and I have conversations like this - and I end up laughing at myself, too. It is hard accepting help - yet, allowing someone else to help is a great gift we all need to give. Praying some good, hearty laughter come your way this week!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it fortunate fior us that God has a sense of humour!
DeleteWe,, probably fortunate for HIM, too!
So glad you're here!
I don't like big helpings of humble pie in the form of needing help. And not just needing help but can't-do-it-at-all-if-I-don't-get-help help.
ReplyDeleteYour words ring true to some of my very thoughts.
Your ability to be honest and poke fun at the difficulties of life is a gift. Your words helped me to laugh. Maybe I didn't know I needed it at the time, but I do now.
Cheers to blurry-eyed writing.