21 May 2008

Swallowing my pride and a yummy breakfast

I just had to share this little story because I've been blessed today.


I mentioned before that I participate in a women's bible study on Wednesday mornings. Today was our last meeting before taking a break for the summer. Like any good church-goin' women, that meant food. Since we finished our study last week, this week we decided to have a brunch and time of fellowship.

Let me tell you that these brunches are GOOD! We may all live north of the Mason-Dixon line, but these ladies can COOK! There's always a ton of good food and it's so nice to spend time together chatting, sharing, praying and laughing.

Anyway, I've been working like a maniac trying to get our home ready for an open house this evening. That resulted in me forgetting until 10:00 last night that we had this brunch today and I needed to cook something. ARGH!!!

Now because of the whole house selling/house building process, I haven't done a proper grocery store run in about two weeks. My cupboards are pretty bare. I truly did not have the ingredients to make something. Not even a box of Krustez Blueberry Muffin Mix - my old standby for just such emergencies. It was 10:00 at night. I was exhausted. There was no way I was going to the store.

So, I simply adopted my martyr pose and decided that I couldn't go to brunch. There was no way I was going to show up empty handed. I would be so embarrassed to walk in the door without a dish of food. I'd look like a major mooch! So I went to bed feeling sad that I'd miss this fun time and mad at myself for not being more prepared.

I got up this morning and moped as I was getting the kids ready. Then I started imagining the conversation where I would have to explain why I wasn't there. It went something like this...

Friend who loves me: "Hey! Why weren't you there for brunch? We missed you!"

Me: "Well, I've been totally stressed out and completely forgot until late last night. I didn't have anything I could make so I didn't come."

Friend who loves me: "You fool! We had enough food to feed an army! Why didn't you come? We're your friends, for Pete's sake!"

Me: "Uuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm"

So with that conversation in mind, I decided to swallow my pride and go. I saw my dear friend Kathy as soon as I walked in the door empty-handed. She noticed that I looked stressed and asked what was up. I began blathering my story about being so tired, working so hard, nothing to cook, so embarrassed...blubber, blubber, blubber. She wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug and said, "We're so glad you're here."

Me: blubber, blubber, blubber

Of course, I had a lovely time, ate a yummy breakfast and left feeling so blessed to have such wonderful women who I care for and who care for me.

So why is it so hard to swallow our pride and let someone help us? It would have been completely foolish of me to stay home today. But my ego was getting in the way. If I were on the other side of this story, I would have slapped the fool upside the head who skipped brunch for such a silly reason.
It's so much easier to minister to someone else rather than letting them minister to us. Helping other people is a blessing but sometimes we need to let ourselves be helped. God wants us to allow others to minister to us when we're in need. It's a good reminder that we're not in control.

And because I love them all so much. Here's a picture of my dear friends from this morning. Yes, we're standing under the emergency defibrillator. After the breakfast that we ate, I'm surprised that we didn't need to use it.

Thank you girls for being such a blessing in my life!


11 comments {Click here to leave a comment}:

Kat said...

Kimba,
You are so right. Good for you that you swallowed pride and humbled yourself. Too often people don't. I'm the same way too. For example: I'd much rather buy a friend's lunch than have them buy mine. I really have to swallow my pride for stuff like that. Sometimes it's a tough swallow, and it's really so silly when you think about it. So again, good for you :)

Amanda Jo said...

What a sweet story and a GREAT group of ladies! Isn't it amazing how the Lord takes care of us? I pray that some day my church would have a sweet group of ladies like that too!

Nicole said...

Cute Post! You sound like such a sweet person, that I could hang out with (in real life) Hey I don't know if your into making cards, but I'm doing a card swap over at my blog, if your interested. It would be fun to have someone outside of Utah :)

Jennifer said...

Thanks for this sweet post. Great reminder. I so often hold myself to a much higher standard than I would ever expect from anyone else!

Hope the open house goes well!

Anonymous said...

Since I've never known you as Kimba, I'll just say Kim,

Now comes the conversation from the other end...
You did'nt bring anything?
I and my stinking full belly where completely unaware! Had you not invited me to take a look at your blog. I'd have never noticed.
But dont worry, I'm available most mornings, and more than happy to help you ease your guilt, by letting you feed me. Now isnt that just like a nice Christian friend! LOL- Sharon

Anonymous said...

Kim,
I too had no idea that you didn't bring any food...obviously we had plenty, I am so glad you decided to come anyway. It definitely wouldn't have been the same without you...And who would have taken our picture?!? No one else thought to bring a camera, hmmmm! I guess your presence was needed by all (as usual) and now you should know it! See you at church!
Love, Polly :)

Debra from Bungalow said...

Hi Kimba, what a wonderful story! It must have been hard to go empty handed but you were certainly welcomed by your great friends. I guess we all are too hard on ourselves sometimes and strive to be superwoman!

Thanks for sharing this story, hugs, DebraK

Kindra-At Home With K said...

What a wonderful gift that you share such a bond with those lovely ladies. How fun to get together every Wednesday! I bet that is so uplifting for the spirit! So glad you decided to go, empty handed and all...Just like amanda jo, I pray that our church can have an awesome group like yours!!
Good luck at your open house!

sheila from life @ #17 said...

Good for you :)

You allowed yourself to be vulnerable and trusted your friends to welcome you :)

that can be so hard...

Deb said...

Hi Kimba, such a lovely group of ladies. That's a wonderful story and it's a blessing to have great friends of all ages. There's so much that you can learn from each other. Deb

Mrs. B said...

How wonderful to have such a great, supportive group of friends. And what true words! It is hard to let others help out. Good for you for going to that brunch. I know they would have missed you! Hope your open house goes well!