To say the past year has been turbulent would be an understatement. I feel like it’s one bad thing after the next, and despite best efforts, nothing seems to make it stop.
It reminds me of when I came home from church to water spilling out of our ceiling onto our kitchen table. Not only was the water ruining the ceiling, but it was also destroying our Christmas cards, iPads, and school projects. We rushed to turn off the water, get towels, buckets, anything to stop the madness. Unfortunately, nothing helped. The water kept coming. There was so much that it somehow reached the smoke detector wires and caused each one of the alarms to go off.
At this point, water was falling, alarms were going off, our kids were crying, and our dogs were barking. It was madness. Since my husband was deployed at the time, I called every friend I knew to help, but no one was home. I felt helpless and completely out of control. I’m not sure how, but despite the chaos, I heard the doorbell. I was utterly embarrassed to open the door with my house in such disarray, but when I finally opened the door, I was filled with relief. It was a rescuer, a firefighter.
I didn’t call 911, I’m not sure who did, but I was so thankful he was there. With tears in my eyes, the only words that came out of my mouth were, “I don’t know how to make it stop.” He asked if he could go in, and within minutes he and his coworkers helped calm the chaos. The firefighters didn’t solve every little thing. Our ceiling and pipes still needed to be fixed, and it took time. Several things needed to be repaired, and believe me, there were still lots of tears.
The fact is, when I opened the door, despite my embarrassment, someone was there to help. Things weren’t solved instantly, but help was with me, and because of that, I was given the strength to do the next something in front of me.
That, my friend, is precisely what it’s like when you reach out for help. My hope for all of you today is that despite the chaos in the world right now, you open the door and receive support if you feel overwhelmed so you are given the strength to do whatever is in front of you.
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