It's not always about efficiency

Writing with my stained, but washed hands, I’m using this week’s letter to document some of what I’ve done to move the brand and projects forward.

Today was memorable as my three boys and their friend learned how to change a tire on a large SUV.

This morning, I came out to the garage to find the front tire of our truck totally and completely flat.

I jokingly told Katie, who was working out in the garage at the time, that she could get a good workout if she tried to fill the tire with air using the bike pump sitting near her in the corner.

Surprisingly, she jumped up and started pumping.

As I rolled my bike out of the garage, again I joked, it would take about 1000 pumps to get that thing inflated.

I came back from my ride and Katie informed me it would take way more than 1000 pumps because she put 800 into it and it hadn’t started to inflate at all!

Clearly, the bike pump wasn’t going to cut it and we needed to put the spare tire on so we could drive to the shop and get it fixed properly.

That’s when I called the teenage boys over to do it with me.

All of the things that come up when changing a tire came up.

• The spare tire was under the car and the kids couldn’t figure out how to access the mechanism that lowered the spare so we could use it.

• The jack ended up being too short for a lifted SUV so they had to improvise by alternating between two jacks and two 45 lb barbell plates pulled from the nearby squat rack. :)

• One of the lugnuts is an “anti-theft” nut so the kids had to figure that out and find the adapter for it.

The last lugnut was really stuck (probably due to the salty and sandy environment we live in) and it took a lot of work to get it off including all of the following: a can of WD-40, a hammer, four strong boys taking turns, a weight belt, and lifting chalk!

Good thing these guys can deadlift 300 lbs!

Eventually, the last lugnut gave way and we were able to swap the wheels out and we are ready to drive to church tomorrow.

The experience was all of what you would expect: It was hot, and sweaty, hands got stained with brake dust and grime, clothes got dirty from rolling under the car, lots of jeering and ribbing each other as they took turns, and a moment of doubt with the last bolt wouldn’t come off.

But…they persisted and popped the last lugnut off to a round of cheers, high-fives, and smiles.

After getting all of the tools put away, the garage cleaned up, and our hands washed off, we all felt a bit of satisfaction.

The boys, teenagers, would be less inclined to say it out loud, but in a private moment and with a little prodding, they would all admit we had fun and are proud of the job we did.

Work is not always about being efficient.

Parenting certainly isn’t.

But none of the moments of my life that I love remembering were “efficient’.

Many were hard. Slow. Painful.

Somehow, that is what life is about.

The effort and overcoming the struggle.

In a way, the effort is the reward.

Well, I didn’t get to report on any of the other things I did this week in this letter, but somehow taking a moment to reflect on this one is enough for today.

I hope you enjoyed this moment with me.

To The Struggle,

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