Don't give in to weariness

It seems like I have spent all week planning for today.  More specifically, planning for the meal that I needed to make and deliver to a family at my church.  Originally I was supposed to provide the meal for Tuesday, but the mom decided that Friday would work best for them.

Last night I baked the chicken.  Sounds simple, right?  Wrong.  I bought cut-up thighs and drumsticks, but they weren't skinless.  No problem.  I know how to skin and trim chicken.  Well I don't know what Jim Perdue fed these chickens, but their skin was attached tightly enough to survive a nuclear holocaust.  When I finally had my 10 pieces skinned and trimmed, my hands were aching.  Mixing the baking sauce was easy and the chicken looked great when I took it out of the oven.  Unfortunately I had to wait another hour for it to cool enough so I could put it in the fridge.  It was past three o'clock before I climbed in bed.

This morning I prepped the veggies for fried rice and made fruit salad.  Again, how hard could it be to cut up some vegetables and put together a fruit salad?  I will admit, the fruit was easy; I used canned tropical fruit and Mandarin oranges and added in fresh strawberries and blueberries.  The veggies were a different story.  When I was finished dicing bell peppers and cubing carrots, my hands were aching again.  I also had to thinly slice green onions and cut up snow peas.  I give my hands and fingers a workout every day on my keyboard and mouse, but using a knife for an extended period of time obviously utilizes totally different muscles.  Even all the warm, soapy water I used to wash the mountain of dishes I generated didn't soothe the ache.

As much as my hands hurt, my feet hurt even more.  Normally I don't stand for hours on end, so that was a painful novelty for my feet that were already sore from a self-diagnosed heel spur.  : /  In the car on the way to drop off the meal, struggling with sleep deprivation and pain, I told G to stop me if I ever agreed to provide a meal again.  Wisely, he said nothing.

Of course I will say yes when the meal coordinator or the event coordinator e-mail to ask for a salad for a bereavement luncheon, cookies for a new member reception, or a meal for a family that is experiencing a crisis.  I may not say yes (or be able to say yes) the very next time I'm asked, but I will definitely respond to a need when it's within my ability to meet the need.  I've been on the receiving end of meals when my third child was born and when my grandparents died, so I know what a blessing it is to not have to think about what to have for dinner when fixing a meal is the lowest priority in a day filled with emotion and exhaustion.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians and encouraged them, and all of us, with these words: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9   

At the end of the day, and in the midst of the day, I was very physically weary.  But by God's grace, as tired as I was, I did not grow weary of doing good.  I'm thankful that I've learned that providing this meal was more about serving and glorifying the Lord than it was about making sure the W family was able to eat dinner.