Unexpected Blessing #4

I have a Goddaughter who lives out of state. She’s a project person, so her visits are always productive.

She said, “I’m coming over. We’ll clean out your attic storage area.” The problem was this attic did not have pull-down steps. I knew I was not a ladder person, but until it was over, I didn’t know she wasn’t either.

On the same weekend, another out-of-state friend said she would be in town and would like to visit. I asked her to come in the morning since my Goddaughter was arriving that afternoon.

My friend arrived with her daughter, whom I had not seen since she was quite young. I also enjoyed meeting the daughter's mother-in-law.   

While catching up on news, I shared about my breast cancer surgery, then I moved on to the purpose of my Goddaughter’s visit. “I’m not sure how much I can help,” I said, “My oncologist told me not to lift more than six pounds with my left arm.”  

My friend’s daughter spoke right up. “I could help.”

What a lovely surprise. “Really? That would be so great! I’ll be in touch after my Goddaughter arrives.”

But there was another unexpected blessing. When she drove up the next morning, her college-age son and his girlfriend got out of the car. She introduced them and said, “They’re willing to help, too.” 

We developed a plan. Her son crawled up into the attic, she stood on the ladder and his girlfriend and my Goddaughter received the boxes and restacked them while I supervised.

My 10x12 attic space was cleared out in about two hours.

I had originally planned to sort through boxes later. But my Goddaughter, whom I laughingly call the Energizer Bunny, looked at the stacks of boxes and said, “We could sort these now.”

I said, “Fine. Let’s do it!” What a relief . . . another time-consuming job done in a few hours.

I am still grateful for this unexpected blessing: Four helpful caring people who acted on the advice in Philippians 4:2: Don’t just look out for your own needs, but also consider the needs of others.