I’ve been thinking about friends and friendship recently. I love being a friend. I love doing for my friends. But I find it difficult to accept it when friends do for me.
There, I’ve said it. I want to help, not be helped. I don’t mind inconveniencing myself, but I am loath to ask someone else to be inconvenienced on my behalf. Yet, for the past year, that’s exactly what I’ve needed to do.
As a recent widow, learning to do tasks I’ve never done before, I need help. Lots of help.
Enter: my friends. My neighbors and church family have come alongside to support me and provide the help I need. I can’t begin to list the people who’ve been inconvenienced—oops, I mean glad to help. Home repairs, mechanical repairs, even climbing ladders to do tree trimming (I have a height phobia!).
And all I had to do was ask. But that meant swallowing my pride and allowing my friends to be the friend I am to them. Some of them have even used my own words: “Don’t deprive me of the blessing to be a blessing!”
So instead of apologizing for their inconvenience, I’m learning to say, “Thank you.”
It’s not easy. But it’s the friendly thing to do.
How have you been helped by a friend this week?
How have you helped out a friend this week?
