Do Not Honor Yourself Before the Queen
“Do not honor yourself before the king, and do not stand in
the place of great men; for it is better for him to say to you, ‘Come up here,’
than to put you lower before a prince, whom your eyes have seen.”
Late last night, really early this morning, we returned from a trip to Disney World. We traveled as a family, ten of us: My Mom, my brother, my husband, my four kids, my daughter-in-law, my son's girlfriend, and myself. This was a special trip for me, the highlight of my “bucket list.” Since my EDS started getting more and more intense, limiting what I could do more every year – sometimes every month, I have been more intentional about doing the things that are important to me while I can. And then when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor two years ago, this became even more important. My husband encouraged me to give some serious thought to what I really wanted to prioritize, just in case. I boiled it down to a short list:
1. A family trip to Disney World
a. This would be followed by future family trips on a smaller scale every 3 years as long as I can.
2. A family beach trip
a. Again to be followed by yearly family beach trips as long as possible.
3. A special trip with each of my kids
1. I have wanted to take my family to Disney World for decades. This was a very special trip to me, we even had special family shirts and buttons! I was not aware until this morning just how much my family realized this as well.
My husband and I paid
for the trip, and we could have asserted that we get the best. The best seat,
the best room, be first in line, all of those things. But that’s not how we roll.
Typically, I tend to hang out in the back and watch, only stepping to the front
when I need to help direct or guide things. Wherever we went, though, my family
was watching out for me. They were making sure I went in front of the line.
They made sure I had a good seat at the table. They kept tabs on whether I
could see from my wheelchair.
What I learned this
morning was that they had gone beyond all those things even. Apart from my
knowledge, they had pacted to get along, to not do things that would cause
myself or my husband stress. They scaled down their usual sibling antics. They were
on time to EVERYTHING. You have no idea how unheard of that is! They did an
incredible job, so incredible I thought it was miraculous. I couldn’t believe
we’d spent ten days in tight quarters with a demanding schedule and everything
had gone so smoothly! Now I know why. Could I have laid down the law and
demanded it from them? Yeah, I could have. Would it have gone as well? I highly
doubt it!
In today’s reading from Esther, Haman saw
himself as the most important person in the court, next to the king. He couldn’t
imagine that the king would want to honor anyone but him, so he laid his
biggest wishes out when asked what the king should do for the man he desires to
honor. How devastated he must have been to hear that Mordecai was the man the
king intended to honor, and that Haman was a lower prince who should give all
of his heart’s desires to his mortal enemy. You’ve got to figure that the king
had no idea that he’d sponsored an edict calling for Mordecai’s destruction and
Haman wasn’t about to point that out to him! Haman had put himself in the place
of greatest honor and got knocked down several pegs. Mordecai, on the other
hand, never insisted on the honor due him for having served the king – even when
it came to the destruction of his people.
Here's the Thing: Being recognized for what we have done feels good. Yeah, sometimes it can be a little uncomfortable too, but to have somebody see all our hard work and verify that it was worth it, that it was good, means a lot! When we demand this recognition, it means so much less. When we receive it unexpectedly, that is a true joy!
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