“Thank you for letting me help you,” I was told recently.

I should have been the one saying thank you, and I did. Her statement is something we don’t hear very often, yet it was offered sincerely. But it’s true–it is a gift to be able to help someone who really needs support of one kind or another.

I’ve been on the receiving end of offers of help a whole lot for almost two months now, after I had surgery to get my second new knee. This time the new joint is in my driving leg, so after I was finally discharged from an extended care facility, I was grounded to my home but still needed to get to my physical therapy appointments three times every week. I was blessed by friends who offered to drive me where I needed to go. There were others who I knew were waiting to be asked, and I did.

So it has all worked out. It has warmed my heart to know that others were so willing to step up when I needed them, even on the first day of therapy when it took twenty minutes of both of us working at it to get my shoes and socks on so we could leave my house. My poor driver of the day always ended up waiting while I slowly, painfully got into their car so they could close my door, take my walker and fold it up, put it into their trunk, and finally get into the car themselves so we could be on our way.

Now that I am almost sprung from being grounded, I have learned lessons from all this, some for the first time and others that are reinforcements. I’ve learned that everybody–including me– likes to be independent. So it was rather humbling to realize that I had to depend on others, even for a short time.

Although I believe that God puts people in front of us to help when we need it, I have learned that it is still difficult to ask for help. I don’t understand why we often have the need to brush aside kind offers with “Oh, I’ll be all right” or “Thanks, but I’m fine” when we’re not.

I’ve learned that, even though I have despaired that I would ever be walking easily again, this has actually been a temporary inconvenience in the whole scheme of life. I see others around me–of all ages–who are permanently disabled.

I’ve learned that I am blessed to be living in a time when this medical technology is available. The alternative in years past was a very restricted life of inactivity.

And I’ve learned again that God puts people here to help us, if we will just let that happen.