Day of Pampering

I almost didn't go. The week and a half leading up to the event were absolutely awful. Medical emergency turned into who-knows-what and a future trip to the endocrinologist. Self-injurious behaviors that sky-rocketed. During one episode he actually left a hole in the door. Outbursts that left us holding our noses, mouths, and heads, and hands in pain. And potty training, what's that? I quit.

Knowing that the Day of Pampering for mothers of special needs children was just around the corner, I had myself a little pity party. Who did I think I was for even considering such a thing when I am such a horrible mom to this child I've been given? I somehow convinced myself that only perfect moms were deserving of such a day and that since I wasn't always able to respond in a textbook manner (forgetting that no textbook has been made for this child), since I was begging for someone to just give me a break for a few hours (hmmmm, wasn't that the point of the day?), and since I couldn't fix him (which, not surprisingly, was the speaker's topic), I didn't deserve to be there.  Besides, my emotions were so close to the surface, I was afraid I was going to be a hot mess in front of everyone.

The Good Doctor saw it otherwise. He was pretty certain that this day was designed especially for imperfect mothers for whom no textbook has been written, who needed a break, who couldn't fix their kids, and who could cry together.

He was right (but please don't tell him I said that).

All because someone followed a nudge from the Lord to be a blessing to a group of people who needed to be blessed, I was blessed tremendously. This is what the body of Christ looks like. I marvel at the number of people it took to pull off a day like this (and this church has been doing it yearly for about 8 years, I think). People to set up, tear down, keep the rooms and trash cans clean during the event, organizers, paper pushers, finding funding and donations, recruiting volunteers to do the pampering, meal prep, food purchasers, the speaker, prayer team, worship team, those who blessed the hands and washed the feet, the people who used their gifts to gift us manicures, hand waxing, chair massages, table massages, reflexology, healing touch, hair and make-up, and the list goes on....

I am filled with gratitude for each individual that used his or her gifts to serve.

And we were blessed simply by an army of people living out their calling to bring their gifts to a place of need.