Our Mistress of Ceremonies for the Five Minute Friday is Kate over at Heading Home. Hope you link up with us and join the fun.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 (King James Version)
I gotta reach up higher, 'cuz I wanna feel the fire. Getting bigger with a vigor when You're living in my soul....I wanna reach, reach for heaven. I wanna reach, reach for You.
GO!
Reaching, grasping, clinching, gasping for air. Who can rescue the one who is drowning--drowning in a sea of pain, regret, and bad choices? Who will take the hand of the one who is reaching out for help?
What am I reaching for? What goals am I reaching? I'm not sure. Am I reaching for the right thing? I sure hope so.
A while back, I was at our church's annual yard sale and needed some help with the bicycle and rack I had bought. Instead of asking, I tried to think of how I could do it myself. My friend, Frank, asked me why I was being so prideful by not asking for help (he and a couple of guys from Our Father's Arms ended up helping me). I didn't know how to explain it to him. It's not simply a matter of pride, but of necessity. I have reached out for help on various things in the past and been royally ostracized and criticized for asking (including simply asking for prayer). It's like I was drowning, reaching for a rescue, and having my hand slapped away and being yelled at for not being a better swimmer.
What does one do who reaches out and finds the angry emptiness of a closed fist rather than the loving touch of an open hand?
FULL STOP!!
It's not pride at all, it's being American and wanting to do things for yourself so that your self sufficiency can grow. There's nothing wrong with that and Pride has nothing to do with it. It sounds like judgmental nonsense to me. That's just how I see it. Perhaps others won't.
ReplyDeleteBeing an American has nothing to do with it either. It's about not having helpless female syndrome and feeling like a begging moocher.
DeleteIf someone shows you a closed fist,figuratively or literally, when you ask for help, then they have the problem, and not you. Now that you are in a community that is helpful, I hope that you'll find yourself receiving even more help and being able to reciprocate fully. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteMe too. Thanks so much for reading. Have a great day.
DeleteOh, I see. That makes sense. I like to do things myself for the reasons you give, and because I've felt more empowered to do things for myself because I live here in the US.
ReplyDelete