Mission Accomplished
My husband, Lane, recently went on a men’s retreat. Before he left, our children and I brainstormed different ways to surprise him. We thought of many nice things we could do for him. One was to clean out his shop. The kids immediately groaned. I encouraged them and then grew discouraged myself when I walked out to his shop to survey the proposed job.
You can say a lot of great things about my husband. He is a hard-worker, he is smart, he can fix just about anything, etc. Lane is also a pack rat. The problem is that he sees the potential in just about everything. He has grand plans for what he will do with an old water heater or how he will turn an old riding lawn mower into a go-cart for the kids. As busy as he is, he rarely has time to work on the numerous projects in his head. Therefore, we are left with a shop filled with old riding lawn mowers and water heaters. It was getting to the point where there was little room for him to work if he wanted to.
When I walked out there, I almost talked myself out of taking on such a big project. But then, he mentioned several times during the course of the week that he wished someone would just come clean out his shop. He knew that if he was there it would be difficult to throw anything away because he would remember the plans he had for it. I knew that if he was to the point where he was ready to let things go, then I needed to take advantage of it. I talked myself back into the surprise. Then turned my attention into encouraging the kids into action. I knew I was going to need help.
I arranged with my step-dad to back a 16-foot long flatbed trailer to the shop, on which I planned to load all of the metal objects. I knew my limitations. I would have taken out the entire fence with the trailer if I was to attempt all that maneuvering. He came as soon as Lane left for his retreat. We knew that we could not waste anytime.
As Butch surveyed the shop, he graciously announced that he would come back in the morning to help. Hallelujah!! I would have help in addition to my children. We briefly discussed what our goals were and made a game plan of sorts. Then we parted ways. The kids and I went to do Lane’s ranch chores as well as our own.
The next morning we woke up early, did our chores, and ate breakfast. Before 8 o’clock we were making our way out to the shop when Butch drove up. We immediately began pulling things out and placing them into one of three piles. Everything we were getting rid of that was made of metal went into the long flatbed trailer. Everything that was trash went in a smaller trailer. Everything we were keeping, but was in the way went outside the shop.
Working together we accomplished an immense amount of work in a relatively short amount of time. Butch gave five hours to the project, which we used in a wise manner. We did all the heavy lifting and moving with him here. We also helped him build Lane a work table, which gives Lane room to work and places to put tools. The shop was really starting to look good when Butch had to leave. We are so thankful for his voluntary help. We could not have gotten so far so quickly without it.
After lunch, the kids and I worked for three more hours focusing on more detailed work. Weed eating in front of the shop, sweeping the floors clean, etc. At the end of the day, we were exhausted, but felt such a sense of accomplishment. We had worked hard, and we could see the condition of the shop visibly improve. We treated ourselves to showers, a light supper, and the movie, Free Willy. Needless to say, we all slept really well that night. We had accomplished our mission.
The best part was anticipating my husband’s reaction when he arrived home. We were so excited to surprise him. Butch came back and moved the trailers so that the view would not be obstructed when Lane drove past. I kept fighting the impulse to call Lane to see where he was. I allowed myself one phone call where I nonchalantly inquired on his whereabouts. Then I found out that both Kyla and Jake had texted him, “Where are you, dad?” Even if he grew suspicious, I enjoyed seeing the kids so excited about surprising their dad.
Lane was thrilled. He could not believe what we had accomplished. He could not believe that we were able to do it in the time he was gone. It made him feel good to know that we would work ourselves silly to do something nice for him. As happy as Lane was, it really is true that “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
You might not have a shop to clean out, but I challenge you to do something nice for someone else today. Write a note, pick some flowers, do the dishes, bake some cookies. Whatever you do, do it out of love, and it will greatly bless the lives of the other party as well as your life.
So funny that I came in here and read this when I just spent the afternoon working on organizing the tools on the back wall of our hay barn! My husband helped load up a load of junk on the trailer to take to the dump tomorrow, and that enabled me to get into the barn and do some more work. I filled the truck bed with scrap lumber and moved it to an out-of-the-way place where I could classify it by size and type of lumber. I’m still not done rehanging the tools on the peg board wall, but my husband was really pleased. Although I must confess I do it as much to ease my OCD nature as to make him happy!
Wonderful! How true – if you are ever feeling sorry for yourself the easiest solution is to help someone, exert your physical and mental energy and you will be rewarded by the satisfaction of doing good.