Where's Tonto?

"I feel like the Lone Ranger," my husband said to me last night, sighing as he made the difficult decision to go home for a good night's rest rather than sticking it out at the hospital for another night with me. Part of me was angry and hurt because I am afraid to stay at the hospital alone due to unpleasant past experiences. On the other hand, I recognized he was burned out physically and emotionally and needed his own bed. While I've been either hospitalized or bed-ridden for the past month, he's been trying to run our small business, take care of things at home, take care of me and/or stay by my side 24/7 in the hospital, plan and prepare most of Thanksgiving dinner, run all of our personal errands, and take over the few administrative duties I can still do for our business all on his own. So his "Lone Ranger" sentiment is understandable.

But even the Lone Ranger had a side-kick: Tonto, someone he could talk to along the trail and count on to have his back. Even his horse Silver would pitch in once in a while, dragging him to water when he'd been injured by an outlaw. Because we have no family living nearby, we recently moved to a new area of a large city and have visited our new church only a handful of times, and we have very few friends in our lives that are willing to roll up their sleeves and be involved in our often-dramatic lives, we have sadly grown quite used to bearing our burdens alone. We are thankful for God's grace, for each other, as well as long-distance family and friends who pray for us and encourage us via phone and internet. But sometimes you just need back-up. Like someone who will offer to drop off one of your diet-specific meals, take you to the doctor, or stop by and let the dogs out for some exercise while you're in the hospital.

Everyone is busy and everyone has less-complicated friendships to put their effort into. I know this. But everyone needs someone to talk to along the trail. Someone to count on to have your back. So for MY Lone Ranger's sake...where's Tonto? Heck...I'm sure he'd even settle for someone to just drag him to water.

Some thoughts and ideas I've shared before about being someone's "side-kick":
If We Are the Body
Get With the Program

Tabitha Who?

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." I Corinthians 12:27

"With all your talent and potential, you're gonna do great things for God one day!" I heard this repeatedly as I was growing up. My competitive/achiever nature often caused me to stand out among my peers, and there was always another award to add to my list of accomplishments. I had big goals and high hopes for my future. That all changed when I became The Sick Girl.

Now my biggest achievements are having the strength to fold last week's laundry, empty the dishwasher for the first time in 3 days, or mop the kitchen floor for only the second time in four months (no, I'm not kidding!). My current successes would be considered failures by most. I may not even see another human being, besides my husband, for a week at a time. How then can I ever expect to do these "great things for God?"

God spoke to me recently through Sheila Walsh's new book. She talks about the story of Tabitha in Acts 9:36-42. If you're wondering, "Tabitha who?" it's because those 7 verses are the only mention of her in the Bible. She never did anything amazing that would stick out in our minds, and we certainly don't think of her when we name the great characters of the Bible. Yet, when she died, the Christians in her home town were devastated. They went so far as to send two men to track down Peter and ask him to come back right away. When Peter returned and found all the widows standing around grieving, he raised her from the dead through the power of Christ!

Why her? She wasn't an apostle or a prominent leader in the church. All she did was sew clothes for the poor. Verse 36 describes her as "always doing good and helping the poor." That's nice, but it's not a great work of God. Or is it? Maybe the things we consider important and worthy of notice are not quite as important to God. That's an epiphany for me! My religious background was always about what I was doing to serve the Lord. It was about being at the church "every time the doors are open," going on weekly visitation, and singing solos before the entire congregation - all things I'm not physically able to do anymore. Does that mean I've missed my chance to fulfill God's purpose for my life? The Enemy would like for me to think so!

But the Bible tells me that God has a purpose for me and a place in the body of Christ where I can serve. These days that may not be a high-profile position in my church or community. Maybe it's being an encourager to others also dealing with chronic illness by praying for them, saying an uplifting word on Facebook, being honest about my struggles through this blog, or making a Prayer Shawl for them in my church's knitting ministry (kind of like Tabitha was doing in her church!).

But let's not miss the end of Tabitha's story. Verse 42 tells us that the story of her resurrection "became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord." Because she became sick and died, Jesus Christ received glory, and many precious souls were saved. What a testimony! Isn't that what all believers are called to do with our time on Earth?

Dear Lord, help me to remember that You have a purpose for my life every single day. Even though I may not feel like an important contributor to Your work, I will trust that you will use my humble offering - right here where I am - to glorify Your name and cause others to believe in You.

If We Are the Body...

A good friend and I have been discussing lately the issue of the body of Christ serving one another and bearing each others' burdens. If we as Christians were truly following the example of Christ and the early church, there would be a lot fewer Christians who are feeling defeated, disconnected, and overwhelmed by life's trying circumstances. That is exactly what the Enemy wants, of course: to keep Christians out of the fight and out of the way of his plans to thwart the cause of Christ.

My dear friend is a young mother who truly desires to please God and raise her children to know and serve Him. But with three very young children at home, she often feels overwhelmed and in desperate need of a break or some quality time alone with her husband. I know that there must certainly be other mothers in her local church who find themselves in this situation as well; could they not trade babysitting services to give other moms a break? What about single ladies in the church or young married couples without children? This could be a real opportunity for them to serve and to learn what it is like to walk in another's shoes. What about a retired couple whose grandchildren live far away? What a mutual blessing it would be for them to "adopt" some children from their church and offer to take them to the zoo, the museum, or the park for the day so Mom can actually get her hair cut or go out on a date with her husband!

But what happens instead? We look at our own situation and how frustrated and discouraged we are that we're a busy mom, a lonely widow, or a couple struggling with the pain of infertility. The Bible tells us that we should follow Christ's example, look at how others around us are struggling, and put their needs above our own (Philippians 2:1-11). When we are willing to do this, not only will we be blessed for our selflessness, but we might find that our own needs will be fulfilled as well. For example, I have a friend with 7 children who has basically been a single mom for the past several months. Yet every time she is going to be near the health food store, she calls me, who is stuck at home because of chronic illness and cannot drive, to see if there's anything I need from the store. She also has a job outside the home, but she came over my house with one of her daughters on a Saturday and cleaned my house because she saw that I was having a tough time. And my husband and I have been able to serve some of her needs as well. What a wonderful blessing to both of us! This is the plan God has for His people! Every part of the body has its own abilities and weaknesses and can serve another member in areas where they are weak.

But we are often unwilling to step out of our comfort zone or make a sacrifice for another brother or sister in Christ. After all, it's more convenient to just invite that couple over that you've known for 10 years because their kids get along with your kids and your spouses hit it off. But what about that couple that's new to the church and have no established friendships or even family that they can fellowship with or call on when they need some help? What about the couple that doesn't have children? It may be a bit more challenging to hang out with that couple because your children won't be occupied and playing with their friends, but don't those people need friends too? You're comfortable having a girls' night out with your two best girlfriends, but what about your friend with chronic illness? She might slow you down at the mall or the beach because she can't keep up with your pace. How about having a single mom over to your house so her boys can throw a football around or learn to work on the car with your sons and your husband? - guy things her son doesn't get to do.

Just something to think about. We all have needs and struggles in life, but we don't have to handle it all on our own. God has adopted us into His family, and He has given us thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ from all different backgrounds, family situations, financial conditions, and special talents and abilities that we can draw upon. Let's reach out to our Christian family and build one another up so that we can bring glory to God and win souls for eternity by the example of our faith and testimony.

"...there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." -I Corinthians 12:20-27