Lift Up the Hands that Hang Down

My hands have been feeling quite low to the ground for a few reasons. On of them is that my girls have continued to be sick. :( Kat started with a fever again at around 12:30am today (Thursday morning). Ria is almost better (YEAY!!), but still has a slight cough. Tea is quite a bit better (I think), but still coughs here and there. On top of that Jess is working lots. Monday it was 15 hours. Today it'll end up around 14 or so. It's been rough to bear the burden of our kids needs without him able to come home at a call.

Ria is significantly improved enough that I felt she should be able to go to Dance today, but I did NOT feel good about taking Kat into a crowd with a fever and all. So, I racked my brain for someone I could ask to help me. (Note: I do not enjoy asking for help. I actually dislike it quite passionately as I'm a pretty darn independent girl. I'm sure my family will nod their heads in agreement.)

Finally I realized I should call my Visiting Teachers. So, I did. I didn't get to speak to either, though. Lesley called back soonest and, even though I didn't feel all weepy or ANYthing when I picked up the phone, as soon as I tried to just lay it out and ask for help I started to have an uncontrollable voice. No tears, but I was certainly crying in my voice! Tears would have been easier cause at least she wouldn't have been able to SEE them! *sigh* I couldn't even get anything comprehensible out of my mouth and she was asking if she could come over and help me! What a sweet and wonderful Sister! I eventually communicated that I was really asking if she could take Ria to Dance and she said she would totally be happy to and we were talking about the time of the class and when she'd need to be by. I guess there was something in the way I was talking with her because she asked if she could come over after she made another phone call. I felt SUCH a wave of relief flow over and through me as I told her I would love it if she did. And she did!

I planned to ask her to hold Tea so I could take care of a mess I found in my room yesterday. But do you know what she did? She totally took care of the WHOLE thing!!! She worked and we talked. I helped a little, but ended up holding my fussy, hungry, tired baby almost the whole time! As we talked and spent time together, I felt more and more of the burden I'd been feeling these last many days lift from me. Seriously, I've never felt anything quite like it before. It took her a little more than an hour, but she cleaned that mess up. And, I should add, she did it better than I would have thought to do! What a blessing! In her service to me, which she poohpoohed many times, Lesley lifted my hands up mightily!! I felt that I should share an experience with her and since I'm not sure if I've written it out before I'm going to do that here, too. It's lovely, so even if I have, I think it's worth repeating - especially for myself.

So, when I still lived in VA, my Mom and went to the temple, just the two of us, 1 time. It was a wonderful trip! We talked SO much and it was just WONDERFUL (at least it was for me). One of our main topics of conversation was Angels. I shared with my Mom that I thought it would be really wonderful if I could actually SEE angels in general... and that I'd heard that it was even more possible to see them in the temple. In my heart I was wishing really hard to see an angel that day.

Well, in the DC temple you can climb stairs or take an elevator. Usually (the few times I went there) we would climb the stairs. The stairwells are lovely with stained glass and it feels just as wonderful there as in the rest of the temple. This time my Mom was walking toward the stairs and I felt almost as if I couldn't move away from the elevator. My Mom asked if I wanted to take the elevator and I said I thought I did. So, we were waiting for the doors to slide open and I'm standing there wishing and hoping so hard that I'll get to see and Angel sometime while we're in the temple. Then the doors open. Before me I see a small crowd of temple workers. All dressed in pure white. Almost all with white hair. And the voice of the Holy Ghost whispered to my mind, "These are your angels." And I realized that I didn't NEED to see an angel that day or any day - ever - not the kind I'd been wishing to see, anyway. I realized that I just needed to open my eyes to the angels around me every day!

So, I try.

After I shared that story with Lesley, I told her that she was definitely an angel in my life and especially right then and there. She denied it saying that she wasn't good enough for that. And I explained that Earth Angels aren't perfect, but they are no less angelic in their ministrations. She may have blushed, but she accepted the compliment after that.

I've felt so much better since that time with her today! I've known for a while now that there are hormones/chemicals released in the body of those who serve, those who receive service, and those who observe service in action... but it's not been terribly often than I'm on the receiving end of this kind of service... desperately needed and personally requested!!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my angel experience. ^_^ I hope that if you have hands that are droopy, you might feel able to request some lifting. It's totally worth the discomfort (if you're like me and feel that you should be able to manage on your own).