Needy

I sat in a leadership meeting,  many years ago...The topic was Employment Resource Services and the thought of a meeting on finding a job and resume writing seemed daunting at best...

A sister from LDS Social Services was the guest speaker...and we weren't talking about resumes or job searches, but how to meet the spiritual and temporal needs of all the members we had stewardship over...and a daunting meeting became one of the most humbling and thought provoking I've ever attended....

Still now, the things this sister shared resonate in my heart and mind, as I have grown in serving in the Church....

"The poor are always needy, but the needy are not always poor..."

She told us to be seeking out the needy among us and then said this, pointing behind her at the leadership on the stand "If you are not also looking on the stand (for those in need) you are missing many who need you."

{light bulb}

Until that very moment, I had never even thought about that....That those in leadership also struggle....I had had  no experience in leadership yet and never really knew others in leadership, personally anyway...By the time you're that old serving there of course you have your stuff ALL TOGETHER and all the resources you need to sail through life...(cut me some slack, I wasn't out of my twenties yet)

Well much has happened since that meeting of many years ago and as it turns out that Sister was bang on.

Superman serves in leadership and sometimes even sits on the stand and instead of our family and especially him receiving a reprieve from the struggles and challenges, they have just intensified...an illness rages on and yet he still willingly serves...

The association, love and understanding from those he serves with is a life line and a manifestation of our Heavenly Father has for him and that his is intimately aware of his needs...

Still he is NEEDY... We are all NEEDY...Yet admitting that, is often intimidating and difficult...

I worry that if I am honest about our struggles and especially his illness, someone will discredit or judge him the next time he attends a meeting or we speak in their Sacrament meeting...Mental Illness has not affected his testimony or his ability to share it...but our struggles are often misunderstood and asking for what we need can be risky...

There is no end insight, for our struggle...we are  learning to accept that, but asking for what this needy family really needs, that isn't so easy...