Take and Give

Breathtaking skiing at Whistler.

During a discussion about our family ski adventure a coworker of mine wondered out-loud if she would ever get to go skiing.  I asked why not head up to our local hill? It is merely 30 minutes away from her house and just got hammered with some lovely powder.  She said she didn't have anyone to leave her baby with.
Of all of the things she could have mentioned: not knowing how to ski, not having the money to ski, not having someone to ski with... not having a babysitter was the absolute easiest barrier I could help with!  I quickly offered to watch her little 8 month bundle of drool and giggles so she and her husband could spend a day on the mountain.  I threw out a day that I was available and willing to watch the babe and she responded with a "thanks but no".  In the conversation that followed, she revealed that she didn't feel comfortable having me watch her son when I didn't have a kid that she could swap childcare with.  Another coworker was nearby and said "take her up on the offer!" Without knowing any specific story of mine, he went on to talk about how he was sure that at some point in my life, a friend surely did the same thing for me, and at some point in hers - she will do the same for someone else.

It was a relatively short conversation, but it stuck with me for a bit. I started to think of the times that other people did things for me with no expectation of a trade or something else in return.

I think about the stranger that drove miles out of his way to guide us to our hotel when we were lost in Spain, or the man who bought our family a meal on a very difficult day.  I think about the time I was having a rough day with the boys and a friend heard the frustration in my voice over the phone and just showed up at my house to help.  There were countless times that people babysat my boys while Matt was away and I needed a break, needed to go to appointments or had to take care of business without little ones under foot.  Even as the boys are older, there are so many times when friends or family have agreed to hang out with the boys for days or weeks so that Matt and I could venture off to somewhere great.  There are just so many times I have been blessed by the generosity of others, people just simply giving what they had available, I cannot count them all.

There was a time in my life that I was weary of accepting favors.  The feeling of being indebted to someone or being accused of taking advantage of a friendship was like a gray cloud that hovered over me when someone offered to help me out. However, it only took one child and a war to shoo that cloud of guilt away.  I realized that sometimes I needed help, and if someone was crazy enough to offer, I was going to live on the wild-side and accept!

Although there may be some rare cases where people don't ever pay forward the generosity others have shown them, I think most people have some talent, time, or resource that they are willing to share with others in a time of need.  What is likely more lacking is people willing to ACCEPT the generosity.  When we do not accept the generosity of others, we rob them of the joy of lending a hand and showing love and we rob ourselves of the chance to be blessed.

Friday at work, I offered to babysit for my coworker so she could go skiing.
Just hours later, on my way out of town for our ski trip, the owners of our AirBnb allowed us to stay an additional night at the condo for free so that we could avoid traffic and weather the following morning.

Give generously.
Receive willingly.
It is a cycle that will likely NOT disappoint.