My team leaders
The coffee was warm. The temperature outside was warm. Warm, muggy, practically steamy.
Back from doing her ten thousand steps, Filly had turned on the portable air conditioner in the garage and gone inside to drink some coffee while she waited for the AC to cool the room down so it was not so humid.
Coffee was supposed to help with workouts. Filly did not know if that was true. What she did know was that consistency was what helped workouts become effective tools for health. Too much coffee gave her headaches…something to avoid. lol
Supposedly, also, a person could walk only eight thousand steps, instead of ten thousand, and still maintain fitness. Filly did not know if that was true either.
To make a statement like that, without considering the person, what they ate, what other activities they did, was simplistic. In her experience, all things worked together to create health, and success. Each aspect needed to be utilized. In other words, eating small balanced meals counted. Exercise counted. Avoiding addictive substances counted. Getting enough sleep and water counted. Prayer counted. It was like all these things worked together as a team to make the person healthy.
Branching out from that thought, her family as people, also had a team mentality. Her sister, part of her team, had called while out walking her dog in NC. and talked to Filly who was walking in the steam bath in Houston. Part of being a team was regular communication.
“I went to see mom the other day and when she answered the door, her hair was sticking up all over like Cruella D’Ville”.
“I said MOM, what happened to your hair”. “She was still wearing some pants that had dirt on the knees and was trying to brush off the dirt while explaining that she had needed to water the plants in the patio and could not reach the spigot without crawling on hands and knees under the giant holly bush that grabbed her hair and mosquitos had attacked her ankles”
Filly laughed imagining that image. Her mom, a beautiful lady, was now in her ninty’s. She had, back in the day, washed and curled and then teased her hair before styling it into a lovely “do”. Like Maye Musk with teased hair…Impossible to look bad and Filly’s mom still did her own hair, only she did not tease is as big as in the past.
Filly’s sister, part of the family “TEAM” took time off from work at the church whenever necessary to take their mom to places that were too far for Mom to drive. She had dinner at Mom’s house several times a week, sharing interesting stories and news events, and Mom, also part of the team, fixed delicious meals, shopped for fresh veggies at the farmers market, and kept up with family correspondence and other household chores as well as doing her steps every week. Both had jobs to do, and both did them well in the spirit of teamwork.
When someone in the family was injured, the whole team went to work. Praying, and stepping in to help. Even the little rookie parts of the team, the children, like Tater and Mister, helped picking up toys, learning to cook and taking care of the baby sister. Just the day before they opened a Lemonade stand to help earn money in the neighborhood and in the morning before setting up the lemonade stand, they carefully went around the house picking up beads to dispose of, because the family had discovered Pyp liked to put things in her nose. Always on the alert for problems, always trying to help.
Those who had injuries, did their part too. Expressing gratitude, and taking all the right steps to recover quickly and fully. NO limitations acceptable. NO long term problems expected.
Recently a stranger in San Jose had beaten up Filly’s daughters husband, an ex police officer, causing injuries. The man, who was on drugs, was filmed on video surveillance camera’s kicking her daughters husband when he was already down on the ground, breaking his jaw and causing extensive injuries. Her husband had gone after the crazed drug user to try to help citizens who had reported him attacking a car.
He was, thankfully found alive and rushed to the hospital where they took care of him. He cannot chew yet and has to have liquid food. But he is healed from the concussion and he is surrounded by a community and his family who love him and see him as a hero, for not being afraid to step up and help someone in trouble.
The injured man he is not. A hero he is. And “the team” has stepped in to help. The grandpa in Bourne took the couples two daughters for a week to teach them how to ride horses. The neighbors and friends close by have brought food and flowers and prayers in abundance, taking care of chores for Filly’s daughter and helping her with moral support. Filly is so grateful for the team and the way the team and the friends have stuck together to GETS THINGS DONE.
Her son, having had emergency surgery for appendicitis, was also recovering from his injury. He was one of the smartest people she knew, if not the smartest. He kept the family grounded, and he understood things and explained them to others, in a way that they could understand.
Like their ex police officer team player, he was not going to be limited or held back for long and was a valuable part of the team. His recovery was complete and he would get back to be a fully functioning member of the team. His lovely wife and daughter were stepping in to help him while he recovered, taking over things that they could, and providing him space to rest and feel better.
Even the oldest members of the team, were still living independent lives, not in assisted living, and uplifting all those around them with their strength of character and determination and grace. The team of family was indeed a blessing.
Filly was part of the team of many families. She had five kids and each of them had lives and people they were connected to, so the team had many players and was growing. She was not trading any of her players. They were a great team exactly as they were because they relied on God and saw their team as uplifted and spiritually motivated.
Filly had sent her sisters, the founding members of her team, along with her mom, an angel card, to remind them of this, with a note that said, “That life is eternal”.
Filly thought of a song “heaven, must be missing an angel”. In her mind, If heaven was on earth, then all the members of the team had spiritual strengths that could be realized and could not be lost, when aligned with God. Their angel faces… all sizes and shapes. No injury was too great, no problem too big, no loss to powerful to fail to be healed quickly. Filly knew this in her spirit, more than just in her brain.
Her randomly chosen bible verse…for the day…
20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. 22 Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.
Filly got up, and opened the double back door, stepped back out into the humidity, and walked across the patio by all her thriving potted plants, to the garage and opened the door. So grateful to have a place to stay strong as part of a team. A team she loved.