This week I found some unexpected blessings in serving. I had the incredible experience of watching my nieces and nephew while my sister and her husband were on vacation. To start this story off, you should know that I don’t like driving and I don’t like watching other people’s children. I adore all my nieces and nephews, so when I was asked to do this, I didn’t hesitate, which again isn’t like me. I knew I was supposed to be helping my sister and her family. It wasn’t until I got on the road that I realized I would be driving 4 hours through mountain passes on my own. I felt the Lord's hands as I knew I was on His errand. The first blessing I received was not running out of gas. About 15 minutes into my journey, I happened to gaze down and notice that my gas tank was empty. My car told me I had about 19 miles left, and the nearest gas station was 17 miles. I felt so blessed pulling into the gas station with about 2 miles left in my gas tank. I know I was being watched over. I was so grateful to make it safely.
I made it to my sister’s house, and her children were incredible. They knew what they were supposed to do and did everything I asked them to, not once did they try to get away with something they knew they shouldn’t be doing. It was so amazing to see them in their natural habitat doing their activities--the ones they love doing. This made watching them so easy and enjoyable.
One of their neighbors was giving away pumpkins from their pumpkin patch. I was blessed with the opportunity to get about 30 pumpkins for free, which was a huge blessing for me. Every year we grow pumpkins, and our crop is usually between 20 and 30, but this year for some reason we only got one pumpkin. I was quite sad about it, because my daughter is a teacher, and I usually furnish pumpkins for my daughter’s 2nd grade classroom. My nephew, who was a trooper, helped me fill up my car. I was able to drop 12 pumpkins off at my daughter’s school on the way home and spent four hours with two of my children, which hadn’t been in the original plans. I also found out that the church I attend needed five more pumpkins for their Fall Festival, so I was able to serve them. The lady in charge of the event was so grateful she didn’t have to spend their budget on pumpkins. These pumpkins blessed so many lives.
On the last morning, we had an experience that really changed my perspective. My niece woke up early, because she had a dance convention that she was really excited about. As the morning wore on, she started getting easily upset and yelling at her siblings. She was not happy with anything that was happening. I knew she was tired because she had stayed up late doing laundry and packing for the convention. Finally, because it was affecting everyone, I said, “Why are you so grumpy, what is going on?” Now if these were my kids, I would have probably yelled at her and sent her to her room to cool down, but luckily, she wasn’t one of my children, because I handled it so much better. Also, I didn’t want to lose my “Cool Aunt” status, so I had to stay calm. I didn’t really know what to do, so I walked over to her and just hugged her. We hugged for quite a while before she finally said, “I miss my mom.” It was a tender moment for me and made me reflect on ways I could have been a better mom to my children. I missed out on so many opportunities, I could have strengthened my relationship with my children and found out what they really needed. I could have served my children better. I know we are harder on ourselves than we should be. I realized that I need to get to the root of the problem before I react. I am now looking for ways to “hug” my adult children when they need it. Sometimes we judge too quickly. What a great service to not judge someone.
I know I am not the “Cool Aunt,” but I do hope that my relationship with this niece of mine has been strengthened and she knows that I love her. I appreciate what she taught me that morning, about serving, as she was struggling. It is so much easier to serve when you know what the person needs, even if it is just a hug.
As we serve others, we also are blessed in countless ways. I didn’t expect this week with my sister’s kids to be such a blessing in my life. I thought I was helping her, but it seemed like I was the one who benefited. Let’s serve.
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