1965 proved to be a banner year of learning for a twelve-year-old girl. My father was an Air Force Officer with four little girls aged 6,8,10 & 12, and a wife and needed to take a second job to make ends meet. Our family was in a one-year duty rotation in the U.S. while my father worked at the Pentagon. In order to make ends meet, my father signed our family to be the janitorial staff for a local church we were attending. Saturday, Monday, Wednesday & Thursdays our entire family engaged in cleaning the church.
Our two youngest siblings were relegated to the church kitchen with our mother.
My job as the oldest was to fold up the folding chairs and stack them on the cart on which they were stored. As soon as half of the floor was free of chairs, my next sister took my folding chair job, and I was to use a three-foot wide push broom to sweep the linoleum floor. Once all the chairs were in their rack and the floor swept, my dad began the arduous job of mopping that linoleum floor, while my sister and I went to the kitchen to finish homework. In the kitchen my mother was cleaning up that mess. Although she never complained, I doubt she liked cleaning the church kitchen and her own at home. Once the mopping was done, the floor had to dry and that meant we all went home in the winter to let the floor dry overnight.
Our family only had one car, so everybody always went back and forth to the church. Frankly, I hated this janitorial job.
In my twelve-year-old mind, I missed so many after school programs, sports, and other activities. It seemed to me all my life was spent in two places, school, and church.
Our father was again put in rotation for a country outside of the U.S. and once again, someone else was directing our lives and to me, we had little choice in these decisions. As I was growing into my teenage years, all I saw was restrictions again about what a Department of Defense Dependent can do and not do while living abroad. During this period of time, teens were not allowed to drive a car on or off base, so I had no “drivers ed” course in High School. The other part that is so hard to understand, was why we all need 12 to 15 vaccinations for overseas travel, and our little arms were so sore, our mom brought our sleeping pillows in the car for our arms to rest. If you are wandering, YES, the MDs gave all 12 – 15 in our two arms in one visit. No cool and crying little girls are not a pleasant trip to and from our home to the base clinic to get those shots.
As I recall, my parents never spoke about money in front of us, so I do not know if the family did financially break even with that janitorial job or not. All I know is that the McDonald’s drive through was never in the picture. Think about it – a 15-cent hamburger for six was not financially possible for us.
Fast forward sixty years to today in 2026. My spouse and I were in our yard last weekend, planting and dividing perennials and as we began to clean up, I heard a sound that sent me right back to my twelve-year-old self! I began to hear, thud – swish – push, and again, and then again. As my back was to my husband, I did not see him pull out a 3-foot push broom to sweep the sidewalk of the dirt there. Then it hit me, our janitorial work sixty years ago was a “work of service to God.” My parents were in a way instructing their children: what service looked like, what fiscal responsibility looked like, and what were the most important things in life. Why did it take me sixty years to connect the dots of what the “obedience” lesson God had for me?
I find it so intriguing when a phrase, a sound, or sermon or even a scripture can transport me through space and time to show me the lesson that God has for me!
Let me ask you this now that you have read this blog post: Has something been triggered in your mind with a latten God lesson for you? I’d love to hear you tell your story.
