Friday, November 2, 2007

learning to be gracious

I got a phone call from a friend of mine this morning. She had made two batches of lasagne and wanted to share one with our family. She said that her mom started this "Lasagne Ministry" and she has carried on the tradition. Her family says a little prayer for the family they have shared the meal with. What a beautiful thing! I love that idea.

What I also love is how wonderful my kitchen is smelling right about now. As soon as she brought the dish into the house, the aroma of the lasagne, despite the fact that it was covered with foil, wafted through the downstairs.

Y'know sometimes it is hard to let other people do nice things for you. Why is that? Do I think I have to always be the one who does the "doing"? There may be a fine line between love and hate, but there is also a fine line between humbleness and pride.

Do you have a hard time letting others do nice things for you? What about when someone pays you a compliment? What is your reaction? Do you disagree and tell them they surely don't know what they are talking about or do you graciously say "thank you"?

3 comments:

Maria (also Bia) said...

hey mg! I've been missing your blogs and almost called to see if everything was okay. You are right in that many times it is much, much easier to give than to receive. Sometimes I just have to remind myself that by receiving a gift or accepting a compliment, we are giving someone the gift of opportunity for them to do the giving, and that way the kindness keeps going and going.

:o) mg said...

My mom once said "sometimes the best gift you can give someone is to let them do something nice for you."
Now, granted, I don't always listen to the ol' "Mah-Mah", but that stuck with me.

Anonymous said...

humbleness? you mean humility? (you know, what makes your hair flat in summer! haha)
very good point, by the way! you are so right. but, there is also a balance of doing for others & allowing others to do for you. many of us have a hard time allowing others to do for us, but a WHOLE lot of folks have a hard time doing for themselves & never do for others! **cough, KATRINA!**
reminds of the punch line to the old joke--
"i sent 2 boats & a helicopter, what more you do you want??!!"