GIVE TO YOURSELF

HOW MANY OF YOU THINK THAT THIS LITTLE STATEMENT SOUNDS VERY SELFISH?  WHY?

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I WAS FACING SOME VERY SERIOUS SURGERY.  THE CHAPLAIN CAME IN AND WAS TALKING TO MY HUSBAND AND ME, AND THEN HE SAID TO ME, "WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES, TONI?"  I DIDN'T HAVE TO THINK ON THAT QUESTION.  SO I TOLD HIM ; GOD, MY HUSBAND, MY CHILDREN, MY PARENTS, HIS PARENTS, AND THEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS.  HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, "WRONG".

I NEARLY FELL OUT OF THE HOSPITAL BED ON THAT ONE.   I GLARED AT HIM, AND SAID, IT IS NOT WRONG, FOR GOD WILL ALWAYS BE FIRST IN MY LIFE, FOR HE HAS SEEN ME THROUGH SOME VERY ROUGH TIMES IN MY LIFE.  THE CHAPLAIN SMILED AND THEN SAID, "BUT TONI, YOU LEFT OFF YOU."  MY HUSBAND AND I BOTH LOOKED AT HIM LIKE HE WAS NUTS.  I WAS TAUGHT THAT GIVING AND THINKING OF MYSELF WAS SELFISH.  THE CHAPLAIN THEN SAID, "HOW CAN YOU LOVE THOSE ON YOUR LIST, IF YOU DON'T LOVE YOURSELF?  DIDN'T GOD MAKE YOU IN HIS IMAGE, TOO?"

WE TALKED FOR A WHILE, AND THEN I REALIZED WHAT HE HAD SAID.  YOU CAN NOT GIVE, IF YOU DON'T GIVE TO YOURSELF.  IT IS LIKE A BUCKET WITH HOLES IN IT.  YOU CAN FILL IT WITH WATER, AND AS LONG AS YOU KEEP REFILLING THE BUCKET, IT WILL NEVER BE EMPTY.

WELL, WE AS HUMANS, MUST THINK IN THE SAME WAY.  WE HAVE TO BE REFILLED TOO.  WE GIVE LOVE, BUT WE MUST RECEIVE MORE LOVE BACK.  WE CAN GIVE OF OURSELVES, BUT WE MUST ALSO DO FOR OURSELVES.  WE CAN NOT GIVE, WHAT WE DO NOT HAVE.

SO I NOW THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT MYSELF.  I LIKE MY TIME FOR MYSELF.  I LIKE TO BE JUST ME, I READ, I WORK ON MY CRAFTS, AND I FIND I AM A HAPPIER PERSON FOR IT.  I FIND IF I JUST TAKE AN HOUR OR TWO FOR MYSELF, I CAN GIVE MY HUSBAND, FAMILY AND FRIEND, A BETTER WIFE, MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, GREAT GRANDMOTHER, AND FRIEND.

REMEMBER, JESUS WENT OFF BY HIMSELF SEVERAL TIMES TOO.  HE NEEDED TIME TO DO WHAT HE HAD TO DO TO BE A BETTER SON.  HE WASN'T BEING SELFISH, HE WAS PREPARING HIMSELF SO HE COULD BE A BETTER SON, AND TRULY A FRIEND TO ALL.

THINK ABOUT IT.