Totally Dependent

Many years ago one summer, I came down with a mean case of viral pneumonia. It was 1984, and I was flat on my back for two weeks with a temperature of 102 and a wracking cough. As I look back, I marvel over the fact that the doctor did not hospitalize me, but our insurance was with an HMO at that time, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Throughout the day, I watched the summer Olympics as I slipped in and out of sleep. We had two children at the time, ages 5 and 3. Unable to get out of bed, I leaned heavily on my mom. While my husband was at work, she came over, tackled a few household chores then took the girls to her house for the day. She returned them in the evening, along with dinner. There is no doubt I have the best mom!

After my fever broke, I was still very weak. I had lost a good bit of weight (might I mention that weight loss from being sick is not attractive weight loss). I had broken blood vessels in my ribcage from coughing, which made coughing all the more painful. It was time for school to start and my oldest, Sweet Pea, was starting kindergarten and needed school clothes. One day, my mom drove us to the mall, and as I sat in the dressing room coughing, she brought one outfit after another into the dressing room for Sweet Pea to try on.

As I sat in that dressing room in August of 1984, it occurred to me that, eight years after getting married, I was, once again, totally dependent on my mom. My husband took over with the children each evening when he got home from work, but I could not have made it through the day without her.

I am fiercely independent by nature, which is not necessarily a strength. It galls me to have to depend on others. As I look back over the years, there have been several times when I have been forced to do exactly that. It is also ironic to me that I can forget to thank God for a particular blessing, like my health, until that blessing is taken away, even momentarily. Then, all of a sudden, my prayers are filled with pleas for my health to return. Oh, how I take my blessings for granted!

What did I learn from this time in my life? I learned to appreciate my mom’s servant heart. I learned to thank God for my health, daily, as I’m enjoying it, not just when it is taken away. I learned that when I’m totally dependent on others, perhaps God is using my situation to give others the opportunity to serve Him through me. I learned that I, too, need to look for opportunities to serve God by helping others.

Are you willing to share a lesson you have learned?

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others,

faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

I Peter 4:10