Monday, August 17, 2015

How can I Help?



A sad thing happened in our family at the end of last month. A dear friend had a massive stroke and died. She was my husband’s niece, just a few years younger than he is. But to me, she and her husband were friends. They came to visit with us while we lived in D.C. and we enjoyed seeing the sights with them and laughing at their unique senses of humor. I’m going to miss her. With all my heart I wish I could have been there to comfort her husband. But what can you say or do from so far away.
I have been nursing my husband the last few weeks as he tries to recover from some bug. I don’t do as well as he did when I had my knee replaced, but he is very loving and appreciative.

I have heard somewhere that you love those you serve.
If we are going to learn to love as the Savior did we should take as many opportunities to serve others.
I have really appreciated friends and family who are willing to drive us to appointments and pick things up at the store. I wouldn’t have been able to care for him as well if they hadn’t been so willing. I love them dearly.

One of the sweetest and most powerful moments of Christ’s ministry was when He washed the feet of His disciples. “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded (John 13: 4-5.)
As the Savior introduced this ordinance, the disciples may have been overwhelmed that their Lord and Master knelt before them and performed so meek a service. Jesus then explained the lessons He wanted them and all of us to learn:
“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you”  (John 13:14-15)

 “The Savior is our supreme example of the power of humility and submissiveness. After all, His submitting His will to the Father brought about the greatest, and even the most powerful, event in all of history. Perhaps some of the most sacred words in all the scriptures are simply, ‘Not my will, but thine, be done’ (Luke 22:42)
“As disciples of Jesus, we always seek to be like Him. ‘Meekness is vital for us to become more Christlike,’ said Elder Ulisses Soares of the Seventy. Without it we won’t be able to develop other important virtues. Being meek does not mean weakness, but it does mean behaving with goodness and kindness, showing strength, serenity, healthy self-worth, and self-control.”  As we work to develop this attribute, we will find that “humbly submitting our will to the Father brings us the empowerment of God—the power of humility. It is the power to meet life’s adversities, the power of peace, the power of hope, the power of a heart throbbing with a love for and testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, even the power of redemption.” *Ensign Magazine August 2015

How can having humility help us love as the Savior did?
Who are you going to help today?
I remember when I was a young wife and mother thinking a couple of times a week, “Who can I surprise
Today? Then I called someone I knew and asked if I could take her children for the morning, or what would you like for dinner? I was never turned down. It was fun.