This past weekend was a little different than normal. I went with my daughter and granddaughter to Missouri to my son’s family. That is not so unusual, but it was because we were finally going to have a chance to celebrate Christmas. There was nothing traditional about it. We didn’t have a tree, or decorations or any of the “traditional” things one thinks of for Christmas. What we did have is love, laughter. The difficult part of the weekend happened our first night there. I was eating a sausage found a bone. It cracked a tooth. That did put a damper on the weekend.

Things don’t always go as planned. Celebrating Christmas in May wasn’t our original plan. Breaking a tooth wasn’t either. Even still, our weekend was a fun and relaxed one. Oh, my tooth hurt, it still does since I haven’t been able to get it fixed yet, but it didn’t keep us from making some great memories.

Everyone has things that happen that don’t go according to plan. Sometimes those things may be more lighthearted like celebrating Christmas in May. Other times it can be so much more serious, even more than a cracked tooth. We can’t control all that happens and what the consequences are. But we can control how we respond and if we need it, to let others help us. Maybe they can’t do anything more for us than just be there for support and pray for us, but that in itself is often what we need most.

Often, we can feel as if we are being weak if we allow others to help us, or even letting them see that we are in need of help. We have the idea that others have to see us as being in complete control at all times. I think the opposite is true. It takes strength to know when to let others in, to know when we are over our head. We were not created to walk through life alone. There is strength in numbers. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed to ask for help. We all need it from time to time, and that is ok. Most of all, we must realize that God is always willing, able and waiting to help us.