The Power of Service

I have been thinking a lot lately about my life and how many times I have benefited from the service of others. I am the type of person that has a really hard time accepting help because I feel that I should be able to do it and if I can't then I am a failure. At the end of my last pregnancy I was having terrible pre-term labor and was on bed rest for about six weeks. It was so hard to just lay on the couch and watch others do my laundry, dishes and take care of my kids; all the things that I was supposed to do. Then when he was born, he was sent to a different hospital and spent five days in the NICU. I had no choice but to let people take my kids because I spent all of those days at the hospital taking care of my little Troy. I look back now and I am so grateful for everyone's service because I know that I could not have done it without them. There have been several other times when our family was going through a crisis and there was always someone there to help me even when I didn't know I needed help. So now I wonder, "Why is it so hard for us to ask for help or better yet, allow others to serve us?" We don't skip a beat if we are called on to serve but yet if we are struggling why can't we ask for help? I decided to look up some articles on the LDS website and I cannot believe the benefits that come from serving others and especially the rewards from allowing others to serve us. The hardest part is admitting that we might need help, that we are not handling life at that moment. I know that service is a huge part of our Heavenly Fathers' plan on earth. We could not do what we are asked to do without the help of others.

The most worthy calling in life … is that in which man can serve best his fellow man. … The noblest aim in life is to strive to live to make other lives better and happier. David O McKay