A Burden or a Blessing?

<p>Good morning, Five Minute Families. Let me ask you… are you a burden or a blessing? My mom is fiercely independent and does not want to be a burden to her family in any way. Through some recent medical needs, she has had to share a bit more with us about the things going on in her life. In fact, when she was rushed to the ER and had to be admitted to the hospital, the first words out of her mouth when we spoke on the phone were, “I hate to be a bother, son.”</p><p>Ongoing needs for her require a reshuffling of some family members’ schedules, and some of us visiting with her in her home state. Even still, she hates that her needs are disrupting other people’s lives. But, is she a burden? A bother? A disruption?</p><p>Or, rather, is she a blessing for whom we get to exemplify God’s admonishments of one anothering?</p><p>You see, the answer to my opening question is that NO ONE is a burden. Asking for help or, more specifically, NEEDING help should not be thought of as a bother or a burden - by the caregiver or the care receiver. </p><p>You have had heard us talk often of one anothering. There are 100 Bible verses that use the phrase or a variation of the phrase “one another.” More than half of those are about how we are to treat each other.</p><p>John 13:14 tells us to serve one another. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”</p><p>John 15:13 exemplifies being willing to disrupt our lives and letting others disrupt theirs for us. “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.”</p><p>Acts 6:1-7 reminds us of the great need to care for one another. “Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty” which is serving the congregational needs. Just as we each have a role to play in the congregation, we each have a role to play at home. Sometimes, we are like the preacher of the word, having to stay focused on the work - the literal job - set