Sometimes The Giver Has To Receive

Israel is generally on the giving side when it comes to all sorts of emergencies, natural and man-made disasters.  We got so much praise for our instant emergency hospitals in  Haiti about a year ago.  Suddenly we're on the receiving end because of the massive fire in the Carmel, northern Israel.  About the why there's a fire, drought etc. I've been blogging on Shiloh Musings.  Here I'll go into another aspect, when the giver must change roles and receive help.

In Shiloh, we try to help each other.  It feels better to be on the helping side, but there's no way to guarantee that we'll always be there.  Sometimes we must agree to receive help, whether we want to or not.  It's not always pleasant to admit that things are out of our control.  We just can't do it all, and if we don't take a break, breathe and let the assistance in, or the situation may get worse.  Sometimes you have to just let go and let others take charge. 

The time in my life when my family and I needed the most help was when my youngest was a tiny (OK, he was never really tiny, just very young) and he had to be hospitalized for six weeks.  I blogged about it last week.  We never would have survived without my wonderful neighbors.  After he was released from the hospital and we returned to our regular life, I could once again assist others.

We also must be realistic about our capabilities to help others and not take on more than we're safely able to do.