Count your blessings

Paige with Elijah in the hospital.

Isaac and his girlfriend Brooke at the bay back in February.

It is so true that we, as human beings, need other human beings in our life. I have realized, especially during the last few months of my life, how much I need other people. How much we all need other people.

I don't really recall an event in my life where I truly felt that I needed help from other people -- that is prior to the birth of our second son, Elijah. Of course, during my infertility journey especially, I so appreciated all the emotional support I received through cards and prayer and encouragement. I needed the love and friendship of so many of you. But when Elijah was born, I quickly became aware what it is to need help in the physical form.

It started with my mother-in-law giving up over two weeks of her life to "move into" our house. She took full responsibility of Scrubs and Isaac for that first week while we were camped out in the hospital. It takes a special person to master the art of living with Scrubs, and she did it flawlessly. Brittney stepped in to watch Isaac when Mom needed a break. Tiffany helped organize meals between my Care Group, MOPS, and wifia friends and watched Isaac when I went into labor. Joan came in for a week to help when I was still unable to lift Isaac. My Mom took unpaid time from work to stay at the house and help when JB was on nights. Joia updated my blog and stopped by and brought Cherry Limeades. And that is just to name a few of the many people who helped us during a time when we just could NOT have done it by ourselves.

My neighbor Bobbie and her four kids stepped in to help with Scrubs. She has two older daughters and two younger sons. The kids would come and take Scrubs to play at the bay or for walks or just stop in and play flashlight with him for a few minutes. They even started taking Isaac with them to the bay. This may not be a very big thing in their minds, but it was an incredible blessing to me.

This past week, all of her kids were on Spring Break. Paige and Brooke came by three different times to help me! They'd sit and play with Isaac, feed him his lunch, take Scrubs to play, change one of the babies, play flashlight with Scrubs, hold Elijah, or just spend some time talking with me. What a great gift! Tonight they are going to watch Isaac for a few hours for us so that JB and I can go and have dinner together.

This gift was especially powerful this week as Isaac has reached that nearly-a-year-old-cling-to-Daddy-and-Mommy stage. If I leave the room, he cries. If I try to leave him with anyone else, he cries. Anyone, that is, except his girlfriends Paige and Brooke. When they come into the house, he starts kicking his legs like crazy and crawls or walks right over to them. He just loves those girls and gladly lets me do my thing while he plays with them. He is more than willing to leave me if it means a trip to the bay in his stroller.

I was so blessed by them this week. They may have thought it wasn't a big deal or that there was a lot in it for them as well, but for a mom of two little boys, the company alone was huge. The brief break from one of my three boys allowed me to get just a few extra things done in quicker time.

Their gift made me think a lot about gifts than I can offer. I know, right now, my ability to help other people is a little limited, but I really want to make an effort and want us all to make an effort to think how we can help other people. It can be a small thing like Joia and Tiffany calling to ask if I need anything at the store when they are going. I remember JB and I doing a lot of babysitting during our years in Kentucky and Minnesota. We used to watch little Karuna once a week while her parents went to a foster parenting class. It didn't seem like a big deal to us, but now I can see why it was a big deal to her parents. And it doesn't have to be stuff with kids. Offering to walk someone's dog or let their pup out while they are gone for the day. Inviting people over for dinner. Being there when someone is going through a difficult time. Cleaning someone's house when they are unable to. Anything.

There are so many ways that we as human beings can help other human beings. Becky had a post on her blog the other day encouraging us to learn something new everyday and participate in a game online to bring free rice to poor nations. World Vision has a gift catalog that you can browse. You can give a goat to a family, or two chickens, or a well in someone's name.

A family at my church lost their home in a lightning strike during the bad storms we had last week. Our church family has stepped in and helped them in so many ways. The community has rallied around them. Free dry cleaning, an RV to stay in, storage units ... all donated! How awesome is that? I wonder what people do when they don't have people step up to help them? Where do they go? What do they do?

I just wanted to encourage all of us, and especially myself, to remember that we need each other. We can't live in this world alone. We need the community, our friends, our family. Thanks Paige and Brooke for reminding me of that!