Teamwork – There’s No “I” In Team

I’ve had the pleasure of being on many great teams.  At work, I have to work with other colleagues to get projects successfully completed.  At home, I have to work together with my wife to lead our family and to make sure our home functions effectively.  At church, I have  worked together with other small group coaches to keep our small group ministry rolling in the correct direction.

When I think of my favorite team experiences, I think about a mission trip that I went on when I was in high school.  Our group of teenagers worked together to build two stone walls for a Habitat for Humanity house in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.  Everyone had to work together to accomplish this project.  Some of us dug the foundation for the walls, some of us picked stones from the quarry, some of us placed the stones into the wall, some of us carried water to the other workers, some of us back-filled dirt into the wall.  It took all of us to build these walls.

It’s an incredible experience to be part of a team that’s working together.  On the other hand, it can be pure torture to be a part of a team that doesn’t click.

Just like a championship sports team, teamwork is essential to a successful family.  The first step in successful parenting is getting on the same page.  The fact that you’re reading this and thinking about teamwork is a step in the right direction.  It’s also important to remember that there is no “I” in team.  It takes everyone in the family.

Team Stolpe on top of Mont Tremblant in Canada - Summer 2011

Here are some ideas to help you foster teamwork in your house:

1.  Hold regular team meetings.  Make sure you are all on the same page.  Provide an opportunity for everyone to have a voice and to share their thoughts and feelings.

2.  Cheer for each other.  Set the example as parents.  Your children’s biggest fans should come from inside your home.  Celebrate each others differences.  Take pride in your team!

3.  Plan.  Don’t let your family coast along.  Do things with intention.  Whether it’s vacation, relax time, extracurricular activities, chores, or whatever, there should be a plan.  As I like to say, “If you fail to plan, you should plan to fail.”

4.  Involve everyone.  Each family member should have a voice, and they should also have an important role to play in the day-to-day living of the family.  Jobs are important for each family member.

5.  Do things together.  Camp.  Hike.  Bike.  Geocache.  Shop.  Do yard work.  Whatever it is, find things that your whole family can do together.

What else can you add to the list?

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?   Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by  one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.   Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.   The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,  while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,  so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Tell us about a time when you had to work with a team to get something accomplished (it could be on the sports field, at work, in school, etc.).

Cradles to Crayons

Last night, we took our H.O.P.E. group to West Conshohocken to the Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia warehouse.  Here we gathered clothing for clothing packs for boys and girls of various sizes.  And then we put together complete packages of clothing, toys, books, coats, boots, shoes, and even birthday presents for kids.  Cradles to Crayons serves five counties in the Philadelphia area.  They collect clothing and toys – mostly used, but still in good shape.  They sort and clean the donated items, and then they utilize their volunteers to get the donations ready to go back out the door.

I didn’t know what to fully expect when we walked in the door, and it took a few minutes to get up to speed on what was really going on.  But I left with a deeper appreciation for Cradles to Crayons and their mission.  This was a perfect activity for our service group as we could work together and help make a difference for some kids in our area.  If your family, your company, or your group is looking for a way to serve in a practical way, I would definitely recommend checking out Cradles to Crayons.  They would be overjoyed to have your help sorting and cleaning donations or in just dropping off some donations.

How and where have you served recently?

ServeFest – Norristown Community House

Saturday morning after witnessing the Phillies‘ dismal performance on Friday night, I had a chance to lift by spirits by spending time with my family and the Bowersox family at the Norristown Community House.  Our church was sponsoring a huge day of serving in our area, and we hooked up with the Norristown Community House thanks to a Grove City College connection with the Peter and Becky Bowersox, who are in charge of the House.

So what is the Norristown Community House?  Good question.  You can go to their website to get more details, but I’ll give you my take.  The House is located in the heart of Norristown, PA which is the county seat of Montgomery County.  Norristown is one of the poorest communities in the county.  The residents of the House are young adults – primarily college students – who attend local colleges.  By choosing to live in the House, they are agreeing to become part of a community where discipleship, serving, and reaching out to the community are expected.  Peter and Becky (shown above with their 3 kids) act as their resident directors and guides.  They make sure the House is running smoothly, and they meet with the young adults on a regular basis to participate in the discipleship process.

It really turned out to be a great morning as we helped them clean out a garage attic that was filled with lots of trash, some relics, and a few treasures.  By clearing out this space which obviously hadn’t been cleaned out in years, we helped to make storage space for the residents of the house.  We discovered an old salon style hair dryer, Vietnam War veteran documents, old clothes and suitcases, a box full of vinyl records, license plates, and lots of dust!  Our kids enjoyed sorting through everything as we removed it from the attic.

This clean-up project was a great way to introduce our family to the Norristown Community House.  I think we’ll be back to help out on some other projects and to rub shoulders with the young adults and the Bowersox family.  Thanks, Becky and Peter for the opportunity to help out – and for getting my mind off the commencement of the Phillies’ golfing season.

How have you served in your community?  What things have you done with your family to serve others? 

Raising Kids to Work Together

Last night was a gorgeous evening in our area.  As a family, we took the opportunity after dinner to tend to some much-needed weeding in one of our flower beds.  This probably doesn’t sound all that glamorous or unusual as many of us have weeds to remove in our yards, our gardens, or our landscape.  The thing that stuck out to me in this hour-long adventure is the amazing ability to have fun and to get work done together as a family.  I’m not kidding when I tell you that this whole area was covered in weeds, so when we finished up for the evening it was satisfying to stand together and enjoy the visual fruits of our labor.

Honestly, it isn’t always easy to engage our kids in this type of activity.  They are typical kids.  They occasionally fuss and complain when we ask them to help out, but they are quick to lend a helping hand more often than not.  We (and I give a lot of credit to my wonderful wife) have tried to instill the value of working together and lending a helping hand into our children.  They are expected to take care of things like collecting the eggs, taking the dog out, sweeping the floor, emptying the dishwasher, and making dinner on occasion.  Setting these types of expectations at an early age has made it easier to get them to do bigger jobs like painting the basement floor, weeding the flower bed, cutting the grass, and working on installing the patio.

Our hope is that this will be a trait that goes with them as they continue to grow into adults.  We also hope it will be a trait that is passed down from generation to generation.  (We certainly have been blessed with great examples from our parents and grandparents.)

What do your kids do around the house to help out?  How have your kids responded to requests to help?  Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your stories.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.  Proverbs 22:6

Phantastic Experience At Philabundance

Last night, I had the privilege of visiting PhilAbundance in South Philadelphia.  PhilAbundance is an organization that is trying to stamp out hunger in our region.  I went down there with my family, and we truly had an amazing time.  We spent about an hour and a half packing 520 boxes full of 30 pounds of food that will go to feed elderly people in our area for two weeks.  The boxes included a couple of boxes of cereal, several cans of food, pasta, juice, powdered milk, peanut butter, and a few other items.  For the first part of our time there, I worked with Hannah to put boxes of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in each box.  For the second half, I helped Leanne put cans of potatoes in each box.  It was pretty amazing to see what could be done with a warehouse, a conveyor belt, several pallets of food, and a bunch of willing volunteers.

As we were packing the boxes, Leanne asked if we thought we could live for two weeks on the food that was being packed in one of these boxes.  This question really made us think about the people who will be receiving these boxes.

Our adventure was spurred on by a service group that we are part of.  We meet twice each month to fellowship and to show God’s love in a practical way.  Our first meeting of the month is usually a pot luck style dinner with a smaller activity – like making cards for soldiers or filling eggs for an upcoming Easter Egg Hunt.  Our second meeting is usually something that requires more action.  PhilAbundance was the perfect place to put action to our words this month.  I hope to go back again – possibly with a group from my office.  I can’t wait to see what our group is up to next month.  If you’re in the Philly (specifically Perkiomen Valley area) and you’re wondering how you can get involve, shoot me a comment.  I’d be glad to share more.

Serve on!

Many Hands Make It Light

Thursday night, I received a phone call from my father-in-law asking if I’d be interested in some help this weekend doing a few projects that were on the “to-do-list.” I decided to take him up on it and boy am I glad, and he traveled in from Western PA to lend a hand.

Last night, we cut and weed whacked the grass. Today, we stained the deck, painted part of the basement floor, dry locked part of the basement walls, and hung up some lights in the basement. There is no way I would have even come close to completing all these projects without Dad’s help.

It is a reminder of how much we can accomplish when we do it together (see my post from earlier this week).

(Tomorrow night, we will celebrate by watching the Eagles-Steelers pre-season game. He’ll be cheering for the wrong team, and I’ll be cheering for the Birds.)

Until the next post….