The Business of Busyness

On Candid Conversations with Connie, Eugene introduces the service organization he and Katrina have founded. Its name is PLEASE, an elaborate abbreviation for philanthropic service to everyone, and its motto promises help to anyone in need. Connie immediately discovers how hard it is to define which requests the organization should accept.

The Washington family is just as overwhelmed. Ed wants to restore regular family devotions, but Marvin has basketball and a church play, Tamika has piano and dance, Elaine has PTA responsibilities, and Ed has church meetings. One dinner scatters before anyone can eat, and the planned devotion disappears beneath an overcrowded schedule.

PLEASE becomes popular faster than Eugene can organize it. Callers request everything from lawn work and kitchen painting to hog bathing, rides to the pharmacy, moving help, and even a pedicure. Eugene accepts nearly every task, then mixes up addresses and assignments. He paints the wrong kitchen orange and mows the lawn of someone who lives in an apartment.

Ed tries moving family devotions to breakfast, but the early hour leaves Marvin asleep in his pancakes. An evening attempt involving costumes and an interactive story ends with Marvin tangled in a rope. Meanwhile, Ed and Elaine become so distracted that they forget to collect Tamika from Whit's End.

Tamika asks PLEASE to analyze the family's schedule. Eugene creates a complicated flowchart, but its conclusion is simple: their current collection of activities leaves no room for regular time together with God. If devotions are truly a priority, they must give up some good activities to make space for something more important.

The same lesson applies to Eugene. Endless telephone calls and appointments leave him exhausted, confused, and unable to perform any task well. Whit affirms the desire to serve but points out that even Jesus did not personally meet every need. He trained disciples and enabled other people to bless others in his name.

Eugene realizes that his gifts are better suited to teaching, organizing, and inventing than attempting every chore himself. He decides that the organization should train and equip volunteers, allowing many people to help well instead of promising that one person will do everything poorly.

The Washingtons each surrender activities they enjoy. Tamika misses dance, Marvin gives up dinosaur club, Elaine leaves a women's group, and Ed skips a golf tournament. Ed also stops choosing the whole devotion by himself and asks what will help everyone learn. The family prays together for a meaningful way to honor God.

Their answer arrives when Eugene mentions that Mrs. Randolph has broken her hip and needs yard work. The Washingtons make service their family activity and use Eugene's Super Power Raker to finish quickly. They plan to discuss what they have learned over ice cream, and even Marvin decides the shared work may be better than dinosaur club.

Back on Connie's program, Eugene announces that PLEASE has been renamed with a Latin phrase meaning Hand Up. The new name reflects an organization that equips people to lift others rather than trying to answer every request itself. Connie prefers simply calling it Hand Up, while Eugene continues defending the more impressive Latin name.