I love this quote by Mother Teresa mostly because she was a servant leader. She didn’t mind doing the most mundane tasks to meet the needs of those who needed care. She put others needs and wants before her own, and knew the beauty of teamwork and unity.
For almost a year I have struggled to find my place in Jesup, GA. I am normally a person who gets involved within the community I live and the church I attend. Most of you know however, that my current health condition has rocked my world. I am an extrovert living an introvert lifestyle.
Let me give you a prime example of what I’m talking about. Since completing chemo and having my colostomy reversal my body is not the same. I can no longer eat dairy with the exception of butter. I don’t understand it, but butter doesn’t make me sick. Cream cheese, sour cream, milk and regular cheese make me sick as a dog. I haven’t tried milk products in about 4 months (every once in a while I try it just to see if there is a reaction–I’m hard headed that way.) Last night Leighanne and Cason made Reeses Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie (Grace–your yummy looking cake on Facebook yesterday inspired them). So I thought to myself, it’s been a few months, I’ll give it a shot. Well guess what? My body can not tolerate even 1 bite of cheesecake. That’s all I ate–and I paid for it last night. But Leighanne and Cason–it was OUT of THIS WORLD! Yummy!
Trust me the list of things I can not eat and choose not to eat by far exceed the list of things I do eat. But I’m not complaining here. I’m learning to enjoy the foods I can, and make them as delish as possible. Hence the love of fresh herbs that I talked about two weeks ago.
Now let me get back to the topic which is teamwork and unity. You see I have been trying to figure out how to plug in to my community and church, and I kept thinking of all the things I can’t do. I can’t commit to doing things that require regular attendance because I never know what my tummy will decide to do on any given day. For an extrovert, get things done kind of girl, this has been a struggle over the past almost year. Until recently I had been trying to figure out how to do some of the old things I used to do, then it hit me–I have to start doing the things I can do now.
When VBS sign-ups at church started being announced, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to commit to teaching a class or anything like that. But you know what? I realized that I could commit to help with the pre-VBS stuff like stage decorations because that’s something that I could be flexible with my time commitment. If I was having a bad day, I could just rearrange when I could go in to paint.
We finished the stage decorations yesterday. I had the best time working with our team and made some of the sweetest friends in the process.
You want to know what I am learning?
I can do things you cannot.
You can do things I cannot.
Together we can do great things.
This reminds me of a verse from Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.” When we work together to do the things we can do, and another group does their part, WE ALL WIN!
Maybe there are some of you that have found yourself in a different position in life, maybe a job change, health problem, etc., and you are floundering like I have been, my advice–look for a new niche. What can you do now? You are still useful, you still have purpose, you can still make a difference in the world where you live.
My life is not over because I can’t do certain things, I have to find the things I can do and contribute those things.
And guess what? So do you, because when it really comes down to the important things in life, we need your input, your contribution to make the world a little bit better.
