12 Songs Of Christmas -An Interlude

Well, I didn't get to the blog as often as I wanted to finish out the series but my daughter and friend Tracey encouraged me to keep going even though it's after Christmas.

We had a lovely Christmas with a couple of friends spending the night and even an entire day afterwards where absolutely nothing was done except curl up on couches and chairs in our pj's, wrapped in duvets, watching back to back episodes of Masterchef Junior, followed by the Downton Abbey Christmas special.  (Living in Europe has its perks every now and then).  We pulled out leftovers, pie, and cups of tea to keep us warm.  Jim didn't find that entertaining so he stayed in the other room playing guitar and catching up on the news.

Following the laziness, I mean restfulness, I had lots of stored up energy yesterday and got to work around the house.  First up was spraying one bedroom with bleach due to mold....it's a HUGE problem here in Italy which everyone just seems to take in stride....then onto the kitchen.  Not just washing the dishes, including the ones hidden in the oven for a later day, but stovetop, counters, whatever was in need of washing got washed.  Then onto the floor.  Now, mind you, sweeping the kitchen floor is normally a daily thing but yesterday was intense....throwing the rugs outside, moving all the trashcans (we have 4 since you to recycle here) rugs, etc...and then having the amount of energy I did, I decided not just to mop but to get down on hands and knees and scrub.......well,,,,that was my mistake.  While scrubbing underneath the island I felt something or some things move about inside my stomache.  I screamed so loudly even Jim heard me with his earphones on!

Something, somewhere, spun around inside as if part of my insides were coming out.  It felt like parts of me were twisting about trying to do gymnastics inside.  It was that all too familiar pain of ribs cracking or breaking or moving or whatever in the world they do.  Ouch!!  So, with that, Jim ordered me not to clean anymore.  (at least until next week lol) and I spent the rest of the day on the couch inside a blanket drinking tea and eating panettone.  Wednesday I will probably head out to the ER and get an x-ray.  We figure it is easier and quicker to do that than go to the doctor and wait a couple hours for him to write a paper for me to make an appointment to get an x-ray and see what exactly happened.

Fortunately, the pain is not as bad as in the past.  If I move a certain way you or try to lift something, the pain is horrendous but thankfully it's not as bad as it could be.  I have had some strange bump on that side of my rib for the past year and the doctor has yet to give me the paper to get an x-ray so maybe this is a good thing after all.  At least we may find out what the bump is :)

So, hopefully tomorrow I will be back on track and write about the next song.  I am thankful for my daughter and friend who encouraged me not to give up.  It's so important that we have people in our lives to whisper in our ear to press on no matter what we feel like.  I love the picture of running a race and having people on the sidelines cheering us on.  I used to run track in high school and it was always inspirational to hear your friends cheer you on throughout the race.  I also remember one of the key lessons my coach taught us-never look back!  Keep your eyes on the finish line, always look at what is ahead of you.

My friend, if there is something you have purposed in your heart to do but lost your motivation, maybe people didn't respond as you had hoped, perhaps you are tired or you have been injured and don't have the energy to finish what you started....please don't give up.  Take up your pen, your guitar, your voice, time,  the bible study you used to attend, whatever it may be that you put down for whatever reason and put it to use once again.  Don't let discouragement keep you from enjoying your race.  Confide in a friend and ask them to be your cheerleader if you need one.  Most of all, recommit whatever it is you have stopped doing to the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to help you finish what you started.  Also, look around and see who you can encourage to keep going.   Be the friend that someone needs you to be but perhaps is too afraid to ask for.

Don't be afraid to ask for help.  We don't need to be these mighty women who think that asking for help is a sign of weakness.  It's not.  It just means we realize we cannot run this race alone and quite frankly, we aren't meant to run it alone.  Runners may run alone, but they are often part of a team. They have a coach to train them and bring out their potential and they have team-mates to root for them along the way.

Let's ask the Lord to show us those around us who need cheering on, to help those who are ready to quit the race, to encourage those who may not feel they are part of the team and then to also be those who aren't afraid to ask a team-mate to run alongside of us, reminding us that we are in this together and we can do this!