Treasured Help

A few months ago I began looking for an Executive Assistant. My life and budget do not really lend itself to hiring someone. As I was praying and thinking about it, I came up with an idea: What about my oldest daughters?

Kaylynn and Rebecca have worked together on a number of drama productions at Heartland Christian School. Their abilities complement each other perfectly.

Kaylynn is a big picture, creative visionary and can brainstorm with me, but Rebecca provides a very practical balance, “That is all fine and good, Daddy, but what are we going to do THIS week?! We need to focus here.”

I was not sure how it would work at first. They are after all, my daughters. They have school work to do. They have lives to live, and I don’t want to load them down with too much. I wasn’t sure if they would even be interested, but I pitched the idea to them.

They are now finishing three months of working as my “EA Team,” and I couldn’t be happier with our progress.
– They have helped me (using the book Making Ideas Happen as a guide) put my life into a series of 30+ projects complete with action items, reference materials, and back burner items.
– They help me type articles, manage my schedule, and sort email for response.
– They brainstorm with me on our schedule for the week capturing action items, putting them in their proper project, and crossing off completed items from the previous week.

We share our “big wins” at the beginning of each weekly meeting. A big win for me this past quarter is finally having administrative help! Instead of just a “reactionary workflow,” I feel like I’m working more intentionally than ever before.

But at a much deeper level than work, I am thankful that I get to share my life with these incredible young ladies at this level and at this season. I can’t think of anyone that I would rather have helping me, and I thank God every day for blessing our home with these treasures.

I know that they won’t be around forever. They will someday move forward with all of the good plans that God has for their lives, but for this special time, I am SO thankful for the team I have.