Day #11 The Kindness of Others

Today, I accompanied one of my guests from Guatemala in Young Womens to help her get the gist of what the teacher was saying. Ultimately I left feeling a great deal of gratitude for the kindness of others. The lesson was about how to give of yourself this Christmas. As the lesson went on I began thinking about all of the things people did for us at Christmas time last year.

We took Eryn into the ER and spent a full day there. Then she was put into the hospital for a few days for problems with her kidneys. After that we were dealing with her medical care at home and taking her to other appointments and for testing at the hospital. It was a heavy load for me. And I remember wondering how I was going to manage Christmas. So many people ended up stepping in and giving us support at this time. So during this lesson it gave me a great deal of joy to remember all of the wonderful things people did to help out. Here are a few:

A neighbor shoveled our driveway and walks.
My visiting teacher wrapped all of my kids' Christmas presents.
A friend did some Christmas shopping for me.
A little girl Eryn's age in the ward brought Eryn "secret friend" gifts every night leading up to Christmas.
The Relief Society brought in meals.
Joel's sister stayed with us in the ER almost all day and visited Eryn regularly whenever she was in the hospital.
A member of the bishopbric visited Eryn in the hospital and helped to give her a blessing.
Friends from Joel's work also visited the Hospital and brought stuffed animals.
Other sisters in the ward who are nurses helped me by answering questions and even came over to look at tubing or to help me resolve problems.
My parents pitched in at my house with the children and the cleaning.
Joel's parents took their turn when they visited helping as well.
The Primary made Eryn a pillowcase with all of their little messages written on it. She took this special pillow to the hospital for her surgery the week after Christmas.
The list of kindnesses goes on and on.

I felt so overwhelmed by gratitude during this lesson that I burst into tears. It was not pretty. :) But honestly, it feels so good to have Eryn so healthy a year later. And now we can look back with joy, remembering all of the good things people did for us.