Ask and Receive...

So yesterday I was feeling overwhelmed with all of the cleaning that I have left to do at the new place... So much left to move out just to get to the walls to clean them. I was procrastinating in the worst way... I buried myself deep in the cyber hole also known as my laptop... And if you read my Blog yesterday, you'll remember this:

34.)Q. If you could spend 12 hours with me and ask/do anything you like, what would it be?
34.)A. Right now? I would ask for help moving a sofa into the garage, I have been trying to get that done for ages by myself and it just isn't happening...

Well... Later in the evening there was a knock at my door. One of my neighbors stopped by to see if he could be of any assistance. Did I need any help moving things or fixing things... He would be available right then or all day today... (I kid you not.) I hesitated only a long pause before replying that if he was serious that there was a sofa and a mattress that I just could not get out to the garage by myself, and would LOVE his help.

He looked about the very cluttered room and said that he could help with the rest of the furniture as well. I did not want to impose... Needless to say, the whole room has been cleared out and is now sitting stacked up in the garage waiting for a good home. And he is going to put the word out and see if anyone wants the old stuff...

A few beers later we were laughing over his magnetic photo album filled with hysterical Polaroids of the goof ball things that he has done with his co-workers over the course of his career. (Turns out my neighbor is something of a Paladin with a great sense of light-hearted humor...)

I had the best night! I got so much accomplished in such a short amount of time because I had help... Help that came to me because I have been too stubborn to go asking for it... (I thought I had this lesson learned the hard way. Hmmm, possibly not... But I am grateful for the gentle and pleasant reminder...) And I received even more than I had hoped for. Kindness and human connection... Possibly even a new friend.

(So EL, your comment about being careful about what you ask for did not go unnoticed... It was something that I used to say quite often and had just let myself forget... And Mom, I remember what you said about what you receive may not be what you envisioned when you are asking, but it is always what you need...)