helping others

Using Your Gifts

Backstory

If you love what you do for a living, you will never work a day in your life. I have found that to be so true. It happens when you use the gifts you were given.

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Using Your Gift – #637

What’s it all about? Why are we put here on this earth? What is expected of us?

There comes a time in life when you start asking those questions and looking for answers. I have. Perhaps you have too.

Each of us have been given different gifts and I believe we are expected to use them to make the world a better place. Some of us can affect things on a global scale, others have little influence beyond our own kitchen. But I think we fulfill our destiny when we figure out our God-given gifts and use them daily for the better good.

God didn’t impart them to you just to hang around. He expects you to use them. Whether you are playing the piano, crocheting afghans, tending flowers, curing diseases, or kissing children good night. You do it very well.

You may be the organizer, or the one who comes up with the good ideas. Or the one who moves things from discussion to action. Your gift may be that you can give of your time, or your money.

Choose the big world or your small intimate world and go make it a better place. It’s expected of you and it pleases God when you do.

I like what Maya Angelou said about this, “My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

P.S.

My jobs have always involved writing, composing, presenting thoughts to the world. I was sure my children appreciated the intellectual significance of what I create at that keyboard. Then I heard someone ask my son what I do for a living. He responded, “She types.”

[Show #637]

Coping Skills

Backstory

Mothers of adult children are often involved when family members have issues with which to cope. Mothers are the soft place to land, so we get turned to, in times of stress. We cope and help others to cope. Don’t we?

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Coping Skills – #643

Someone sent a photo around on the Internet recently. It showed a dog prancing on its hind legs. You got the impression it was showing off. Then you realized it was walking that way because it had lost its front legs. The animal had figured out how to keep going. It’s an important lesson for people too; how to keep going.

Our town recently had a period of multiple young deaths. Week after week, we were offering sympathy and condolences to parents who could not understand why fate had let them down and taken away their child.

At one of the services, someone said wisely, “Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”

Gather up your own coping skills and be ready to put them to use.

As we get older or wiser, we seem to be often called on to cope. A friend loses a loved one, someone becomes seriously ill, circumstances make critical changes in a person’s life. They may all turn to YOU for support, advice and assistance.

You help them most by effectively conveying the need to just keep going. What you say can make a big difference in their ability to cope. Practice what you would say to someone who turns to you for help. Be ready, when the call comes.

P.S.

A philosophy helps to cope with adversity. It can be a cliché or a bolt of wisdom. Two things I have found to be true – 1) When one door closes, another opens. 2) People come into your life for a season or a reason. Listen to the story with that theme at https://considerthisradioshow.com/reason-season-lifetime/.

[Show #643]

In an Emergency

Backstory

The emergency in this story really did happen. So did all the action described afterwards. People are there to help. We just need to know how to communicate.

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In an Emergency – #646

The young mother had collapsed. The ambulance whisked her away. Before her husband could get the kids settled and reach the hospital, she was in surgery. It did not go well. There were complications.

He posted what had happened on Face Book. Dozens of get well wishes were posted.

Some urged the family to let them know if anything was needed. Generous people with good intent were doing nothing, waiting to get a call to action. I posted a blatant message.

“Don’t ask if he needs anything. Figure out what YOU would need, at a time like this and JUST GO DO IT!”

My post seemed to be a catalyst. A neighbor drove the kids to school. Some friends came and cleaned the house. Clothes were washed, dried and put away. Prepared meals were delivered. Fresh flowers showed up on the table.

The family glided through the wife’s stay in the hospital, her days in rehab and her confinement at home. It all had a happy ending, thanks to those who stepped up and pitched in.

If someone in your life has an emergency, don’t take a passive stand. Jump in and do something. Walk the dog . . . water the flowers . . . take the kids for burgers. Pour out the love, like Mike and Suzanne’s friends and neighbors did. Thanks, y’all.

P.S.

What action do you think we should NEVER take, if we want to help?

[Show #646]