My Flabby Flesh

No, I’m not taking about the extra baby fat I can’t seem to get rid of. I’m talking about the lazy, selfish part of me that gets tired of doing the right thing. Well, I’m glad I didn’t listen to my flesh yesterday because my obedience really blessed someone in need.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up Galatians 6:9 NIV

I have a friend with Cerebral Palsy whom I have helped care for in college and, on occasion, over the last six years. In college she was very mobile in her wheelchair, but for the last 7 years she’s been bedridden due to a wheelchair accident, no fault of her own.

Most times meeting her needs is inconvenient; other times, it’s just plain hard to drag myself away from my homeschooling, raising four kids and writing routine. I often have to drop what I’m doing to help fill an immediate need.

On Sunday our family was going to visit her in the hospital, but I didn’t feel like it. It was raining, and bringing the kids is never fun because they’re usually rowdy, plus I really wanted to write. So, I did what I wanted but made myself promise to visit her the next day when I had a babysitter.

Monday afternoon rolled around, and I dreaded maneuvering through the maze of hospital rooms and corridors, but I pushed aside my flabby flesh and “just did it” as Nike would say. All week I had been praying that God would show me what He wanted me to do each day. Today He did!

My unexpected visit to her hospital room was an ordained blessing in disguise. Though I could not have known it, God had heard my friend’s need and filled it through me.

When I showed up she was getting ready to be discharged. It comforted her that I was there. She said she was humbled by God’s answer to her prayer. With family in another state, she had no way of getting all her “stuff” home. Though I only expected to stay for 30 minutes, I made some calls and had my babysitter bring my kids over to a neighbor’s until I could get home.

Then I helped get my friend’s stuff home. There was supposed to be an aid waiting for her, but the aid wasn’t there, and my friend was worried about dinner. I told her I could fix something for her and feed her. Which I did (though it was only a tuna sandwich)! I made it home just in time to feed my own kids and then run out the door to drive my son to play practice.

What God’s showed me through the whole thing is that He does provide, even through reluctant flabby people. And that obedience brings blessing. The hardest part of the whole day was dragging my flabby flesh down there; after I did, everything else was fine, and I enjoyed my friend and being able to meet a need.