Asking for help: Part 2

Yesterday I posted about why I should wear I sign that says, "Confront me if I don't ask for help." (Click here to read that post.) God has been teaching me this lesson with my husband, like I shared yesterday, and also with my friends and church family.

Last Easter I wrote a blog about Easter Behind the Scenes where I shared what the day of Easter was like in our personal lives. (Craziness.) After a friend of mine read that post, she told me that she felt like God put it on her heart to make sure we had some help lined up for this Easter. I told her how much I appreciated that, but hadn't given it much thought since last year.

Then, a couple weeks ago I saw a post on Facebook from my friend about lining up some people to help us on Easter weekend. My first impulse was to post back and say something like, "You guys are so sweet but we're really okay. I know everyone is busy that weekend." But in my heart I knew that we actually did need help and I should receive it as a gift from God.

What I was BLOWN AWAY by was the outpouring of love and support that came as a result of that post.

• Three young professionals took care of our kiddos on Thursday night so that Andy & I could enjoy a date. 
• A precious family brought us dinner on Saturday night so that we could get a good meal without having to deal with the prep/clean up.
• Another friend picked up our boys from BayKids in between the 1st and 2nd services so that we could grab a few quick family snapshots. (Pretty much the entire photo shoot looks like outtakes from a bloopers video due to our uncooperative sons. But that certainly was not her fault!) Then she took them back to their classes so that Andy & I could continue interacting with guests.
• Three other amazing young professionals took our boys home from church during the 3rd service and played with them all afternoon. The boys even got a coveted trip to McDonald's and frozen yogurt out of the deal!
• That night, another friend from church came over to spend the night at our house because Andy had a medical procedure scheduled for the next morning and we had to leave the house at 5:30 AM. When we got home at 9 AM the next morning she was outside with the boys playing water guns in their PJs! :-) Our boys had a BLAST this weekend. 

This Easter felt COMPLETELY different to me personally than it did last year. The Monday morning after Easter last year, I felt like I had just lived through a bad fist fight and wanted to lay on the couch and suck my thumb! This year I felt a little tired, but emotionally I felt great. I felt loved and supported and like I had been able to focus on the things I needed to focus on without neglecting my kids or going crazy in the process. 

This Easter, God got out His megaphone and yelled in my ear, "Stacie, ask for help!!! There are plenty of people who would LOVE to help you if they only knew about your need!!!" 

So to all of you who helped us in some way or prayed for our family, THANK YOU! You blessed us beyond what you could understand. You were holding up our arms this weekend and it truly made all the difference in the world.

And if you are a pastor's wife, let me challenge you to let your people know when you need help. If they are anything like the amazing people of South Bay, they love you and want to bless your family. But it is nearly impossible for them to anticipate your needs. We have to ask. 

So, pastor's wife or not, let's all realize that we have people in our lives that would be more than willing to help us if we would be honest enough to let them know that we need help. Let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves and 'playing the martyr'. If you are drowning, let someone know. And if you're feeling pretty good about life with a few life preservers handy, look around you to notice who's drowning. We've all been in both places at one time or another. 

Here's our ridiculous attempt at some family photos. There were a couple good ones, but a lot more funny ones than good...

Oh well. At least we have it documented and it really does show their personalities!