A couple days ago I received an email from a friend asking if I needed a break. She bluntly explained to me that when she last saw me, her and her husband thought that I looked tired and could use a break... Now that coming from not only a girl but also a guy is awfully tragic. I thought that I must have had bags hanging off my cheek bones, swaying in the wind or something.
However, I did not take any offense to this email. The thought to do so never actually crossed my mind. Instead I welled up inside and it was all I could do from weeping right there in front of the computer. I quickly dismissed the email and my feelings not sure what to think of them.
It wasn't until later when I finally decided to respond to the email that I understood the emotions that arose from reading such an intuitive email.
As of late my boys have been sick. Not that sickness in an of itself is a huge deal, but their sickness has been disturbing their sleep.
Their sleeping patterns weren't the greatest to begin with, but I'd learned to come to terms with that fact.
This sickness and weird sleeping habits combined essentially means that we've been lacking sleep around here.
Tayte has been waking up with a cough or a hungry stomach anywhere from 5-9 times a night while Daxton has been waking up 2-3 times a night. Between the two, I wasn't getting a complete cycle of sleep. It was more like extended naps instead of a full nights sleep - haha.
Naps during the day weren't really an option, what with a full list of things to and a sweet busy 2 year old that's hard to keep up with. And I found that the tiredness caused other emotions to arise, such as a longing for 'home' or family, loneliness, etc...
My friend who wrote the email was completely unaware of my situation, as I don't really divulge my struggles to anyone but my husband. However, the point that I want to make is that my friend saw something amiss in my life. She took time to not only notice me, but also to take action. She did this by offering to either take my boys off my hands so I could sleep, or to come over and help out.
The emotions I felt while reading her email came because she was intuitive and saw a need for me. She reached out to me, and let me know that she cared. And this lifted me.
We are doing MUCH better now, and I guess the reason why I'm writing this isn't to show our small, insignificant struggles, but because it got me thinking about how I want to make sure I'm noticing others and being the person who reaches out and lifts spirits when they are feeling down.
This Christmas season is an especially opportune time to reach out, so I just wanted to say that I'm grateful for a teaching moment in my life, and for someone who noticed a need and acted.
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