“Many hands make light work.” While our men at church certainly aren’t professional movers, they’re not novice either.
As a woman, one heart warming experience is watching our guys assist families moving. Moving in or moving out. Loading up a van or unloading it.
Moving in is always good news, signaling new members in the ward. But the church won’t discriminate, if people are heading elsewhere, the same troops rally!
As Relief Society sisters we provide lots of miscellaneous service but when it comes to heavy lifting with moving it’s usually the men’s expertise at work. I pitched up on Thursday to help a new couple renting a place in our ward. There were 3 missionaries, about 10 guys, and a truck filled with a bed and mattress, dressers, couches, bookshelves, tons of boxes, and even a piano. And, in no time flat the truck was completely emptied.
One cool thing about service via moving are the instant tangible results. Lots of service is more ambiguous. As women, when we watch children, host a shower, take a meal, or give a ride the results aren’t as obvious as the swift work of unloading a moving van. There’s definitely something nice about working where the progress is noticeable.
Another cool thing is simply how generous church members are with their time. People moving in are usually total strangers but a few phone calls or an email and a crew shows up. I’m always touched by how willing people are to give of their time. Talents too, but let’s face it, moving is more sweat of the brow work.
I tried to be helpful on Thursday but ended up mostly relegated to carry the lightweight stuff (ironing boards, snowboards, loose boards for the bed frames). The manly men take dubs on lugging the piano and keeping it in tune (ha!). I did take a minute to stand back and just notice how quick and how smooth and for amateurs, how pretty darn professionally, a group of decent guys can move a couple into a new home.
If our church membership helps us serve others, that might be considered humanitarian work, but it’s a pretty good endorsement of religion for me! Surrounding myself in a community of remarkable people who show up, over and over, simply because they’ve been asked. It’s not a bad template of Christian living at it’s very core.
