Help! The Kids are Almost Out!

Another school year is over. Next year Middle School and a challenging academic year for the boy!

Do you have kids? If not, will the summer season still pose a challenge? Scheduling usually possesses a problem. You want to get it all in usually eight short weeks. Oh, and don't forget the promise to yourself to relax and enjoy life. How will you find time for that?

Even if you don't have a chronic illness, summer can be a chaotic time of year. It might be hard to be at work when you feel you really should be doing something more exciting and for some more rewarding. Maybe money will be a problem. There is a chance many of you might not be able to enjoy the season because you just can't afford take time off work or you have suffered a job loss. Well, speaking from experience, you can't afford not to enjoy the upcoming season.

I remember working at the office and staring at the sky wondering what was I doing? Was making money for other people more important than enjoying the time I had left on earth? I mean I only have 40 years left! I happen to know that to be true! It didn't seem right to be indoors and not enjoy the opportunities that lay beyond closed doors.

My mind's eye is fading into a memory ten short years ago when I was working for a newspaper distribution company. Silly me agreed to work on the 4th of July. I remember the magical lights that lit up the dark sky. The sounds of people's laughter echoes through the windows. Car horns cheered on the sonic booms that shook the walls and frightened my coworkers. I recall the frustration and disgust as I thought, "really, instead of being out there enjoying the atomic sky, people are calling this newspaper company to complain?". What was worse was that I sat behind my glass cubicle taking their call and listening to their arrogant and condescending voice. Was a newspaper that important? It was that night that I realized that the world has too many lonely and small-minded people. After working for this company, I know now that spoiled children only grow up to be spoiled adults. There had to be a better way to live and there was. I was called to be a teacher and today I heard another calling, I felt the urge to help a friend.

It really is no big deal but a friend was feeling ill today. Her eyes were swollen due to allergies and her sinuses were plugged. She looked tired and she really belonged at home but this woman is a fighter. Her endurance should be bottled and sold! She would be rich!  I could tell she just felt miserable. Despite her agony, she continued to fulfill her duty as a team mom. I felt the call to help her and she didn't even ask! She showed me endurance and I guess she helped me accomplish my goal today. Don't remember my goal?  See the first blog. The team mom is aware of my RRMS but accepted my help and gave me a simple job to do. While I felt the task was no big deal she was eternally grateful. I finally got to understand the other side of things. Now I understand how others feel when they help me. As soon as they help me I always seem to have guilty puddles lying around. Life is better because of their help but there is always guilt that is left behind (see guilty puddles). Tonight I learned what it means to help someone and it is "no big deal".

Have you ever felt called to do something? It may have not been magical but you probably left feeling better about yourself than you did before you felt that special call. I enjoyed every year that I taught and I was always given the opportunity to teach something different every year. Despite the MS, I still continue to tutor and instead of a paycheck, I have been paid in spaghetti sauce, crab dinners, and items from Sam's.

I think we are all called to do something in life.  I guess the lesson from tutoring and volunteering is that you don't need to be paid in order to feel rewarded. I would be interested to hear what callings people have done in their lives. I once heard on the news of a man who has worked a job in all 50 states and wrote a book on his experiences.
Again, the school year is over and I am being called to be the best at home mom I can be. There will be long days filled with swimming ear, complaining children, sand in bathing suit bottoms, stiff legs, sunburn, begging, fighting, cuddling, time together, star filled skies, crickets chirping, birds singing, looking for gold under a rainbow, embracing God's beauty, and life long memories made. I am going to enjoy every minute of it. Won't you join me?