Snowing...Snoring...Boring

Did you ever play that word game?  You know the one where you change a letter of a word to make a new word and then the next person changes it again and so on and so on.  I.e.  snowing (change the "w" to "r") and you have snoring (change the "sn" to "b") and you have boring.  Okay, I improvised a little, but as I was sitting with an ice pack on my back watching the snow fly and listening to Hannah snore on the couch it just seemed fitting that "boring" would be the next word in my little game! 

I've been looking forward to this week for a while.  They guys are all gone and I was thinking this would be "ME" week.  I mean afterall, I've pretty much waited on everyone hand and foot for about 3 weeks now...I deserve a "ME" week right?  I had big plans to take Hannah to the mall, go to the movies, go out to dinner!  Ahhh  - it was gonna be great!  My back and the weather had other plans!  I had a momentary pity party and was about to drown my sorrow in a big ol' bowl of Moose Tracks and then I remembered that darn New Year's resolution to lose weight!  Geez, how much disappointment can a gal take in one week???

That was yesterday...the day I was feeling sorry for me!  Today I visited that again for a little bit as well, but God always has a way of pointing me back to Him.  I got 4 phone calls, or texts from friends who took the time out to check up on me.  Wow - humbling! 

Having a bad case of cabin fever Hannah and I decided to venture out.  I drove slowly and walked carefully on our venture.  After our trip to the Library I treated Hannah and "ME" (of course, cause it's all about me right?) to a fountain drink at the gas station. We were really living large at this point. I told the cashier to just add the drink of the UPS man behind me in line to my bill.   When we got in the car Hannah said, "Wow, mom that was really nice of you"!  Turns out my daughter saw a Random Act of Kindness and eventhough it was a .97 cent one it spoke loudly to her.  i didn't think much of it because after all I was feeling sorry for myself and about to drown my sorrows in a diet pepsi!

We had been home about an hour and the Pastor called and asked if I could come in to the office and write a check out of the Area Ministerial checkbook to help someone whose electricity had been cut off.  Hannah didn't want to go to the office but I made her.  As I was writing out the check for this man's electricity I got two more phone calls from people needing help.  One needed a prescription filled and another needed her electricity paid as well to avoid a shut off. This lady was particularly upset and crying and experiencing loneliness and in need of pastoral counseling as well.   I took care of their financial needs and referred the one lady to the pastor.  Hannah sat quietly taking all this in, feeling a little bewildered by it all. I, on the other hand, felt humbled, ashamed, guilty....the list goes on and on.

Yes, Hannah learned a lot today about the importance of giving.  The value in kindness.  But, I learned so much more.  My hopes of a fun filled week were dashed by a bad back and a snow storm.  But while I heal I have a warm house, ample food (albeit diet food), offers from friends and family wanting to help me, a hard working husband whose job provides insurance for our meds, a family who I am blessed to serve and care for, and well, this list goes on and on too.

I guess you could say that my word game took some twists and turns today and looks more like this now....shamed, shared, cared (for)!