Family Ties

OK, so I'm not talking about the classic 80's sitcom featuring Michael J. Fox as the inimitable Alex P. Keaton. Although, it would be really cool if I were...


Family. It conjures up a lot of different images for each of us. For some of us, family is overwhelmingly positive and for some of us, family is a painful reminder of the difficulties that have plagued our own relationships. I'm thankful for my family, both immediate and extended, because my family has been great. The past few months have been an adventure for our family. As most of you probably know (since all five of my readers are members of our family) Suzanne and I moved away from Mobile and left our families behind to go to Wetumpka just over four years ago. After our first year, we received some exciting news. Suzanne's sister and her family would be moving just down the road from us to Prattville. After a year of separation, one portion of the Hughes clan would be reunited.

And boy, were we ever united. For the first five months, our families shared our home. It had it's headaches, but we all made it work and we enjoyed the opportunity to have family members close by. Now here we are three years later, and not only have we returned to the Bay area, but the rest of our family has returned as well. Suzanne's sister and her family were only three weeks behind us in moving to Daphne, and now all of us are reunited. Which leads up to the story of my day Saturday. Moving day came, and I agreed to join my brother-in-law's brother and cousin in driving a moving truck to Prattville to help move them to Daphne. In fact, I was glad to help. One of the great blessings of family is that they've been there for us as much as we've been there for them. Here's a quick breakdown of the day's events.

4:00am- Wake up. Remember why I never wake up this early. Stand in the shower, praying that scalding water will wake me up.
4:45am- Depart for Grand Bay to meet the rest of the ace moving crew.
5:00am- Depart Grand Bay. Must stop at McDonald's. Coffee and McMuffin help with the wakeup process.
5:15am- Coffee works its magic. All men agree that we can speak to each other with coffee in our system.
6:00am- Moving truck is picked up and we're en route to Prattville.
9:00am- Arrive in Prattville and begin packing up.
9:01am- Analyze situation, and thank God that someone had the foresight to hire two teenage boys to help with packing the truck.
10:00am- Moving team decides that two trucks are in order. Call [name redacted]* truck rental company, and get a great rate on a [name redacted] moving truck, right here in Prattville.
10:30am- Arrive at the offices for [name redacted] truck rental (which happens to be in a gas station). Here, we are informed that the truck rental portion of the business is closed, as they have no reservations for today.
10:31am- Inform attendant that we do, in fact, have a reservation. Attendant calls manager of [name redacted] rental company. Manager informs attendant that they don't have any 24' moving trucks available for rent.
10:32am- Look out of window, see 24' moving truck.
10:33am- Call [name redacted] truck rentals and explain situation. They change our reservation and send us on to Montgomery.
11:00am- Arrive at Montgomery office for [name redacted] truck rental company, only to find out that (you guessed it) they didn't have a truck that size, as someone was on their way to pick up the one parked out front. This attendant was nice enough to call ahead for us to another office down the road.
11:15am- Arrive at second Montgomery office for [name redacted] truck rental company. Good news: they have a truck. Bad news: it doesn't have a functional air conditioner. The attendant informs us that he will be able to get us a great rate due to our inconvenience and the problem with the truck.
11:20am- After a few minutes on hold with customer service, I'm offered a major discount: $11.34. The conversation went something like this:

Phone rep: I'm terribly sorry for your inconvenience Mr. Landry. [name redacted] truck rental cares about our customers and we want to take care of you. For your troubles, we would like to offer you the low rate of $173.12.
Me: That's eleven bucks. Are you serious?
Phone rep: Yes, Mr. Landry, we believe that is quite generous.
Me: So, I've spent nearly two hours driving around town due to your company's failure to deliver any truck. I finally find one, with no air, and the best you can do is eleven bucks?
Phone rep: Yes, sir.
Me: You're kidding me, right?
Phone rep: No, sir.
Me: Seriously?
Phone rep: *hangs up*

11:50am- Depart for Prattville in aforementioned truck.
12:30pm- Arrive in Prattville. Overhear team member on the phone: "We'll definitely be there by six". Cringe, knowing that this is the kiss of death.
2:30pm- Almost finished, and feeling confident in our ability to reach Daphne by six.
2:31pm- The Deluge. Scramble to get furniture out of the yard.
3:30pm- Finish loading trucks, depart for Daphne.
3:35pm- Remember that we need diesel.
4:00pm- Leave Prattville. Starter won't work. Pause. Consider situation. Enter stage 3 of Kubler-Ross model for grief and loss: bargaining. "If you just let me get out of Prattville, I'll do anything God."
4:10pm- Starter fires. Depart Prattville.
6:45pm- Arrive in Daphne. "Hey, did you know that one of your headlights is out on that truck?" Eat supper. Begin unloading process.
7:15pm- Note: "Wow, they've got a two-story house. I wonder how we're going to get all this furniture up those stairs?"
10:30pm- The first truck is finished. Time for a break.
10:40pm- Prepare to move [name redacted] moving truck out of neighbor's driveway and into unloading area. Starter won't work.
10:45pm- Much head scratching. Starter still won't work. Consternation. Weeping. Wailing and gnashing of teeth ensue.
11:00pm- Contact [name redacted] trucking company and find out, there's really not a lot they can do about it. Shocking, really. Large pieces of furniture must be carried across the yard.
12:15am- Finish unloading truck. Huzzahs all about.
12:30am- Depart for Mobile.
12:45am- Drop off fully functional moving truck.
1:15am- Arrive in Grand Bay
1:30am- Home

*-Our legal team here at A View from N. Wintzell informed us we should not use the actual name of the rental truck company. So, I'll just tell you that it's a well-known rental company whose name starts with a B and ends with an -udget.

So, after a hard day of work, we got them moved in. What was the point of all this? The point is that we're family, and that's what family does. I never questioned whether or not I would be a part of the move (OK, maybe just once or twice during the Saga of the [name redacted] Moving Truck) because we're family. We take care of each other. Family goes above and beyond the call of duty. Family sees the needs that we have and we do everything in our power to take care of them.

We'll do anything for our families. But what about our church families? In Galatians 6, Paul calls the community of believers "the household of faith". As a church, we're a household, a family. How do you treat your family? Do you view your brothers and sisters in Christ in that way? What would you be willing to do to meet their needs? What sacrifices would you be willing to make to ensure their well-being? Will you go visit your family this Sunday? Will you walk beside them in the activities of daily life? Will you pray for them and encourage them? We've got a different kind of family, but one that is no less important than our physical family.

That's my view anyway, from here on N. Wintzell.