1/28/14

Today was a great day! I recently had my 3rd chemo treatment and have not seemed to have the horrible days I’ve had in the past after treatments. I say this with caution as I am almost scared of jinxing myself as my symptoms can change so quickly from day to day. But regardless I am rejoicing in the good days!

We recently had friends that just welcomed their fifth, yes fifth, child in to world! How exciting! They got home from the hospital this week and were also making use of the same “foodtidings” website I had mentioned earlier for people to sign up and bring meals. Because we have been so blessed by this act of service I really felt the need to also contribute in this same way. I have experienced firsthand how much of a blessing this has been to our family and I was really praying for a good day so I too could bless someone else.

I felt myself craving the ability to bless someone else instead of always being the one blessed by others. Please don’t misunderstand that last statement. We are so, so very appreciative of all the blessing people have done for us and because of that, it has made me want to bless others even more! It has been hard though for me to feel like I can bless others with such little energy and a great deal of pain. I also felt myself craving the usually monotonous everyday tasks like grocery shopping and cooking. That morning I set my mind to the fact that I was going to make a meal for the Martins come hell or high water! I knew though, that it was not feasible to think I could do everything that it took to complete this task so I tried to set some doable parameters. I called on my gracious and wonderful mom for help! Of course she was very supportive and was willing to help in any way she could. She offered to pick up the groceries but grocery shopping was one of the tasks I have missed (?crazy I know!). But instead I let her watch Carter while I went to the grocery. I knew that lugging that heavy carseat in and out of the grocery would have just been too much. It was so odd getting excited to make a grocery list? We never know how much the little things in life mean until suddenly they are taken away.

Grocery shopping was a success. I came home and rested before jumping in to the next task (Energy Conservation/Work Simplification for all my occupational therapists out there!) I am trying to be smart about the energy I do have and that means taking frequent rest breaks between tasks and planning ahead the best way to spend my energy. I then took my time cooking the meal. I had planned for a simple meal (again trying to be realistic with my energy yet satisfy my need to contribute) and allowed mom to assist me with cooking while Carter napped. I then had mom deliver the meal. Basically this would not have been possible without mom!!! I am so grateful for her help!

All in all the day was a huge success! It felt great to not feel super crappy and to be a small part of blessing someone else. It just goes to show that blessing others can be contagious. Because of all the blessings we have received it has made me want to bless others even more. I wonder what the world would look like if we all went around blessing others with our kindness and acts of service.