You Can’t Give What You Don’t Have

Monday morning, blank page, dry well, already starting the week with not enough to give. What to do when those strange mental blanks and that feeling of emptiness come on…and you have a whole day, week, lifetime ahead of you to fill?  I am reminded that yesterday was the celebration of Pentecost, when Jesus gave his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were afraid, hiding in a room, spent with grief, loneliness, fear. And suddenly, after being filled with the Spirit, they were courageously speaking to the people around them, proclaiming resurrection and joy. So how can we be filled back up so we can carry on and give to others? I’m reminded of the person on the plane with a child beside her who is warned by the attendant that before she can put on her child’s oxygen mask, she has to put on her own. Natural instinct would cry that you put on the child’s mask first (the plane is crashing!). But we know the truth is that we need to put on our own first in order to help our children. We can’t give what we don’t have. While I’m excited that I started last week in my “calling,” my author career, I am already feeling a little “dry” when it comes to writing this blog and beginning my second week. I don’t know why. But I know what I need to do. Fill up. First, I need to let go of worry (about tomorrow, my children, etc.) and guilt (about yesterday, my children, etc.) and focus on today. What difference can I make right here, right now? Second, I need to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill me. Third, I need to read the Bible for inspiration. I encourage you, if you are feeling “dry” or “empty” to take a few minutes and read the story Jesus Talks to a Samaritan Woman (John: 4) where Jesus meets the woman at the well and says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,^ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.†I suddenly feel filled again, enough to give for this day. Time to go refill my coffee, my water glass, put on a smile and get back to work!