Humbled

Kyle's brother Troy showed him how to assemble the crib and put the linens in.

This has been a humbling week. Don't get me wrong; it has been amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. At the end of the school year I cleaned out my classroom. That was quite the process of letting go. I found papers in files that were older that me! I knew what I wanted to keep and what needed to be given away. The baby's room is a totally different story. We had been super blessed with gifts upon gifts, but I didn't know how to sort them like I did my classroom. Part of the problem was that my classroom was all M-Y stuff. The baby's room used to be our office. Kyle has a pack rat tendency, so let's just say there was a lot of stuff in the office that I didn't know what to do with. I had been so emotionally drained from cleaning my room, and to be honest, I was intimidated by the baby's room. Kyle wasn't though. He had been sorting and cleaning for weeks. He would wake up early and stay up late just to organize it. The Saturday before Eliana came, we had a shower in Bakersfield. So, all of the organization that had been building got a bit overloaded with the new gifts. I figured I had lots of time to sort things out, so why rush??? Little did I know that Eliana would be coming 3 weeks and 2 days early.

So now comes the problem. We have a brand new baby who is taking all of the energy we have. Our house hadn't been particularly spotless before her arrival, so there was simply a lot to be done. We had family come up last Monday, and I was embarrassed of the baby's room. I was hoping no one would look in there since it really wasn't ready by any means. Our family did see the problem, and they acted out of love to help things get ready. For 45 minutes, family and coworker attacked the baby's room. I was totally blessed and completely humbled by their act of love. I could see the carpet again. The crib was put together. Laundry was going with new baby things. What would have continued to take Kyle and I weeks to do was done quickly with help.

This morning I was reading 1 Corinthians 4. Paul is talking to the Corinthians and warning them that he is planning to visit. "¹⁸ Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. ²¹ What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?" I got to thinking about how God molds us. He has plans for us. He can gently change us when we are listening and willing, or he can use huge things to wake us up. Which would I rather? Was my pride hurt that I couldn't prepare a room for Eliana? Yes, it was. But I chose to let my family's act of love conquer my pride. Yes, I was truly humbled, but I am also amazingly blessed.


Aimee, Sherry, Rachel, and Jeff worked together to sort and organize clothing and other baby essentials.