Clean Up! Clean Up! Everybody Do Your Share!

If you watched Barney (I did a lot with my grandchildren), you probably learned that little song! Though we weren't singing it, we might as well have, because yesterday was all about checking off Mama's clean-up "to do" list.

You know. Those little odds and ends that, after you move in, get left to the last, and in my case, I needed "muscle" to help check those things off the list. That's when I called in my markers. I promised my grandkids a good donation to their Guatemala trip if I could get some help, so the whole family, including Denise, came over and pitched in. Larry and Payton did some heavy lifting and also set up my surround sound system. Staci and Denise were my "go to" girls -- going up the ladder to the attic to move up boxes and tubs, like two women on a mission! Alexia saw a gold mine in the many give away or sell items I had. I told her she could have the money if she wanted to sell it all, so she started organizing, taking pictures and posting on the Next Door app. Team work sure made the dream work. Now, my car fits in the garage and I can listen to beautiful praise music throughout my home and patio.

I was amazed at the different skill sets we all had. Payton, now with strong arms and legs moved heavy items for me. Denise, who is a machine, stood on the attic ladder and hoisted those heavy tubs and boxes up to Staci. And Staci who got her daddy's packing, organizing and storing abilities, did an amazing job making my attic look like an easily accessible and organized storage unit. Larry, with his engineering and technology abilities, set up a brilliant sound sytem for me. Now, I feel like I've finally moved in and settled! Thanks be to God AND my Wallace Team.

Families really are like a team. I witnessed yesterday how each individual family member brought skill, personality, and their own role to the team, just as a sports player has a specific position on the team. I know their goal was to get "Mama's To Do" list done, and they did with time remaining to get their own "to do" lists done. We need each other -- not just in work, but we need each other for encouragement, celebrations, and for supporting each other through the ups and downs of life.

A couple of days ago I was making some decisions on my own, so as not to "bother" the fam. I needed to get my car repaired (and the other driver's car repaired, that I ran into -- that story is for another day), when both sets of my kids gave me sound advice that will save me a substantial sum of money. I was told "Mom, you need to let go of your pride and go about it this way." I needed that advice. I needed them. I needed their wisdom. I needed their TLC that would point me in the right direction.

If we do it right, as family teams, we'll bring the best of ourselves to the table and our discussions and the advice we give and take, just may be the way the Father intended us to live. After all, "family" is how it started in the beginning, family is what cooperated together for the birth of our Savior, and family is who God wants us to be for each other -- whether we're related, or not.

When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father, we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family: “Jesus pointed to his disciples and said, ‘These are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!’” (Matthew 12:49-50).

Maybe, the picture I gave you of my family helping me out when I needed their help the most, is the picture we all should have -- not just of our own families of origin, but God's family -- encouraging, lifting up, and helping them get their "to do" lists done!