Servant's Heart

Today at church we focused on serving our community. I have always had a very strong servant's heart (I was the kid who when in elementary school when asked would volunteer to help the teacher do something during recess instead of going outside to play with my friends). I just love being able to help people (it's part of the reason I am a massage therapist), whether it be something they can't do on their own, or just to get something off of their to do list so they can focus on something more important. Giving of yourself is a very practical way to show God's blessing to people around you, whether you know them or not.

A lot of people think they need to go on an overseas missions trip to do any good. While that is a great thing to do, people need to remember that there are people all around where you live that could use your help every day. Maybe it's someone at your school/workplace. Maybe it's just someone walking behind you at a store who you hold the door for. Or maybe it's someone who lives in the same house as you (mom, dad, siblings, husband or wife). We are so quick to think of loving our neighbors that we tend to forget about and take for granted the people that care about us the most. If we tried to do at least one nice, giving thing for someone in our families I bet that the atmosphere in our homes would change and it would be a more peaceful place.

Also, reaching out to someone you don't know, or hardly know at all could have a HUGE impact on their lives. When they see that someone cared about them enough to do something nice for them it just may inspire them to do something nice for someone else. Plus, even if they don't realize it right away, it shows them God's love and plants a seed in their hearts that hopefully will eventually grow.

I challenge anyone who reads this to take a step outside of their busy lives and do something nice and unexpected for at least one person every day this week. You may be surprised to see that not only will you be blessing those people, but you will also feel blessed by serving others. I would even go as far as to say that you will even be happier in general this week.

Floating Along

I have been so frustrated lately. As a massage therapist I rely on my wrists to be strong and healthy to make my living, but since last June I have been dealing with constant problems with my right wrist. I went through a 10 week period where I was constantly going back and forth between doctors, physical therapists, and specialists. During those 10 weeks I also was not allowed to work, but thanks to worker’s comp I was at least being compensated with some sort of income.

Well, I was allowed to go back to work late last August, even though my wrist wasn’t a back to 100%, but the doctors didn’t want me to lose my conditioning with work. I was pretty much thrilled to be able to go back to work and help make other people feel better. Well, recently I have felt the pain get worse, but I thought for some reason that it would magically get better or something.

It got to the point where it began to get difficult for me to do something like pick up a bottle of juice without feeling a sharp pain, so I brought it up to my employer so that I would be able to go back to the doctor. They put me on an immediate leave of absence, and I’ve started the inevitable trips back and forth to the doctors/physical therapists offices. Well, the doctors said I could start doing one massage a day and work up from there, which made me excited even though it was just a baby step. I let my employer know, and they told me that I can’t be put back on the schedule until I can do three sessions. So now I’m stuck in my fifth week of not working, and because it was my employer that said I couldn’t work and not the doctor I’m having a hard time getting the insurance company to compensate me.

I feel so useless right now, and I want to be able to contribute financially to my household, but since this is a worker’s comp thing I can’t even try to get some lame part-time nothing job to at least bring some type of income in. I want to feel like I’m worth something, and not just a lump floating through life right now doing nothing. I’m so glad that I have a wonderful, supportive husband through all of this, but it’s taking its toll on me, and I’m sure that if it’s not already, it may eventually take a toll on him too. I just hope this all gets resolved soon and my wrist gets better.