"No" Wasn't An Option

She didn't even give me a choice. I wasn't given the opportunity to say "That's okay. I can handle it" or "We'll make it work somehow. You've got enough on your own plate." She must have known that those are my usual patented responses (of course she did...she has known me for over 30 years!). And truth be told I probably could have figured out a way for my family to survive this past week. But that wasn't what was planned for me.

Promises made a way for my family to live beyond the level of survival. She and Dawson blessed us beyond my imagination.

How? This amazing woman came to my house everyday with 2-1/2 year old Brady and almost 6 month old Baby (no official blog name yet) before 8AM! Every. Day. The schedule was non-stop with making meals, cleaning dishes, naps, activities, laundry, etc until she left with her family after dinner. Thankfully Barber and Jeter were able and willing to get me ice and take care of some of what I needed so that I didn't add too much more to the already full schedule.

And she did this joyfully. Joyfully.

I am in awe.

Their self-sacrifice didn't just bless our family. They ministered to us.

Is her life busy? Yes. Baby is going through a new schedule adjustment. She has all the responsibilities of being Mommy. Her life is anything but easy. And yet she and Dawson gave - lavishly - of themselves and their family. They took a real "time-out" from their daily routine and adopted a new routine. Why?

The easy answer is "because we are family and we love each other."

But I would submit it's more than that. Yes - we are family. Yes - we love each other dearly. But it's more than that...

I'm reminded of a quote I recently read by Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland Church in Orlando, Florida who said "People are in ministry every day. They have a ministry to their family, their friends, their workplaces. They just don't understand it as ministry. A mother who sees herself as a minister will approach parenting completely different. We get so focused on plugging people into ministry at church that we end up shrinking "ministry" down to "volunteering at church". We do a great disservice to people when we do that. Ministry is life. We need to create a culture of service and ministry and turn people loose to see all of life as ministry." (emphasis mine)

Much can be said about the above quote...another time. For now, "thank you!" passes over my lips more times than I can count - specifically to the Promises Family. Given the chance, I probably would have said "no" and unknowingly taken on more than I could handle (Simms at work late 3 of the 4 evenings!) Their service may not fit the stereotype but I can attest that they certainly have been in full-time ministry!