Would I be so humble?

On Monday morning I sat on a friend's couch who was looking for some advice.  She had just had her fifth baby (making it five kids ages 8 and under) and was recovering from an emergency c-section.  The advice she wanted was everything from how to know if she should be done having kids, to birth control, to coping with life after a cesarean.  We talked about everything and I did my best to give advice as directed by the spirit, but one thing kept coming back to me: she is overwhelmed and needs help around the house.  In my mind I thought about rallying a few of the girls from our Learning Circle to have them help but when I returned home and the busyness set back in, I forgot about it.

Yesterday I got a call from the compassionate services leader asking if i could help Andrea out a little.  I was so ashamed that I let it get that far...I forgot about the prompting and someone else had to bring it back to my attention.  I told her I could definitely help out.  I sent a text to six other girls and all but one immediately said they would be there to help!  I just love these girls!

When we showed up, one had brought two of her teenage daughters and the other brought her son to help.  Loaded with vacuums, mops and cleaning supplies Andrea opened the door in shock!  I had told her we were coming but I think the sight of NINE of us was a little surprising.  She cried as we offered our help and asked where to start.  All she wanted help with was the laundry.  The nine of us divided up and went to work!  There was laughter and chitchat coming from every room!  Isn't that what service does to people?

We worked hard for almost two solid hours.  There was only one room that went untouched, and that was her sewing room.  Everything else got cleaned and vacuumed.  Jennifer Brimhall took all of the sheets home to wash, myself, Mindy Hatch, Wylie Johnson and Jennifer Contreras each took home one or two more loads of laundry to wash and the house looked and smelled beautiful!  I'm estimating that between all of the laundry that was folded and washed while we were there and what we took home, there was about 20 loads!

I went back a short while ago to take lunch and while I was there Bobby showed up to get dinner going in the crockpot.  Isn't she so great?

By nature Andrea isn't a very tidy person, but what a leg up!  What took nine of us two hours, would have taken her eighteen hours of nonstop work....which we all know is IMPOSSIBLE!

I know it will likely be clean only temporarily, but the opportunity to serve was worth it all!

Now, the whole point of this is: surely it was very hard for Andrea to accept our help.  It's embarrassing to let someone see you at your worst.  And your home is such a personal thing, exposing it to others is very hard!  But the awesome thing is, she let us!  Yes, maybe we were a little intrusive to all show up at her door and push our way in, but she didn't have to accept our help.  Instead, she just sat in the rocker and cared for the baby, which is exactly what we told her to do.

I couldn't help but wonder how I would respond to such a situation.  I hope I never have to worry about it, but what would I do?  It's so easy to give the service, but receiving it can be so humbling and really make you rethink your level of humility.

Should I ever be in her shoes, I will think of her.  She taught me something great today and I hope to never forget it.