Gratitude

We sometimes have a hard time expressing our gratitude to others when they do something special for us. My daughter-in-law is a great example of this. She is on her own while my son is serving overseas. They have four small children and she is trying her best to keep life at home as normal as possible.
People in her community want to help. They have cooked meals for them and tried to help with various chores that she might have. She does not know how to accept their kindness or how to tell them that she might not need as much as they are willing to give. She doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but she also doesn't want to become dependant on others on things that she could possibly handle on her own.
Now my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who lost their home to fire Wednesday, are running into the same problems. They do need help and are very grateful to all that have come along to show their support at this difficult time. But they also want to have time to collect their thoughts and figure out just what they need and when they might need it. It is wonderful how people pull together to help someone and I would not want to ever dampen anyone's generousity. Just sometimes it might be better to take a step back and maybe help down the road when the dust has settled and a person would have the chance to figure out just what needs to be done.
I am glad that I live in a community that will pull together for the downtrodden and the weary. I love the fact that when disaster happens, we become one big family.