Finally.
I have learned that valuable lesson that God has been trying to teach me all of this school year…
Ask. For. Help.

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Maybe it is the Jamaican blood that flows through my veins.
Maybe it is the deeply rooted African strength that empowers me.
Yet there is something within me that is often incapable of asking people for help.

Literally, I can carry pounds of items, losing feeling in my arms as I carry it all, and still not ask for help.

Ok, maybe I am stubborn.

Whatever it may be, I just don’t ask for help.
However, God had been humbling the literal mess out of me this month and I’m grateful.

Yet in this humbling experience, here’s what I’ve learned (take out your spiritual notepad so that we can learn together).

1. Asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness. Whatever inner struggle caused me to not ask for help, also caused me to believe that if I asked for help, that I would be judged and viewed negatively. As such, I perceived that asking for help was a sign of weakness and a sign that I was unable to handle everything that was on my plate. Truth is, holding on to things without asking for help is the true weakness. It is debilitating and further isolates me from others. Asking for help is a sign of strength because it takes a strong person to acknowledge that they cannot do everything by themselves…

2. Asking for help allows you to grow others. Just as God has graced me for positions (that only became available when someone helped me), when I ask for help, I create opportunities for others to be blessed or be a blessing. For some, they need the opportunity that my asking for help will afford. For others, helping me provides the space for someone else to bless me- by God’s grace- in the best possible way! The saying, “blessed to be a blessing” can only work if I give space for someone to bless me…

3. Asking for help helps you to not burn out. This is my third year as a classroom teacher and since year one, everyone has been urging me to not put too much on my plate. Me being me, I ignored this advice because I was older and used to wearing many hats at one time. However, what I did not notice until it was too late was that by the time I felt the weight of the plate that I was carrying, it was too late because the stress had already consumed me. Burning out had become such an integrated part of my being that I didn’t even notice how bad things had gotten. However, when I ask for help, I am able to take from my plate and reduce my chance of burning out. It’s such a beautiful thing!

Beloved, this is not a comprehensive list but simply the first few things that came to mind last night as I was riding in the car back to Maryland. My prayer for you is that you (and I) are able to see the beauty of getting help from others so that we don’t grow weary in well doing. God has so much great work in store for us but we can only achieve it if we are alive and able to do it. Right here right now, release and allow God to give your physical and mental body the rest that you need in order to go forward.

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This is a short work week for me because I am having a minor surgery on Wednesday. The reason why I am now able to write about asking for help is because I had to ask for help in every possible way as I prepare for this. I am seeing the physical toll that bearing too much weight has caused me and I can see just how much it is literally breaking my body. This surgery is the reset that my body and spirit need and, truly, I am grateful. I hate that it took a scheduled surgery to get me to ask for help but, better late than never! May God get the glory in all of this and may we come out stronger than when we went in.

Be blessed.