Here's how every week needs to break down in order to get everything done:
30 hours for admin and maintenance.
25 hours for booklet creation and proofing.
10 hours for meetings about stuff I do and do not need to know.
5 hours for training.
5 hours for emails and phone calls.
Notice I'm not including anything for breaks, meals, mental health, physical health, chapel, prayer, or fellowship.
So I'm feeling a bit of strain. This week has been another crazy one. You can tell people are getting ready for all of the guests and field missionaries and the Board. I'm not saying we're all feeling the pressure, but I've seen a few chickens with suspiciously short necks.
This week I've been focused mainly on Mongolian. Veronica was able to figure out why my files were doing weird things, so I was able to basically start over again on the first group. I'm enjoying working with a new language, but I wasn't kidding about it being a long language. I'm having to get creative about fitting everything in, but in some cases, I've had to add pages. It's not my favorite thing to do, but sometimes it's necessary for readability.
Trista is doing really well with learning all the new stuff! Plus, she asks good questions, so she makes my job easier. It's a pleasure to have someone helping the team!
We also had orientation this week, which of course means History of Christianity. I tried to sprinkle a few more tidbits into the timeline to give some context to the wider world. It’s such a short time to cover such a huge topic. But I always enjoy it.
I gave a little teaser last week about something new coming up. We actually have at least three new books coming to Train & Multiply! As our partners have used the booklets, we've noticed certain topics that could be expanded or are just missing. Two of the booklets were created at the request of our Village Church Planting team. I haven't talked about them much because they use a different method (obviously), but they are rewriting the curriculum and incorporating some T&M elements. We thought those booklets sounded like a good idea, so we're adding them to what we offer. I've been editing one of them this week, trying to make it look and sound more like what we already have. We need to keep the information and formatting consistent, especially since we already referenced one of the books (yes, before we wrote it - call it motivation to actually get it done).
Yesterday was probably the craziest day. I had a meeting from 8-9, another from 9-10:30, I helped Sarah pick up lunch from 11:15-11:45, lunch with interns sponsored by ECC from 12-1:30, and then I could actually sit down and do some work on booklets.
So yeah. Crazy week.
Which is why this is the perfect time to take a little break.
This has actually been planned for a few months. We've been wanting to visit my sister in Wyoming pretty much since she moved there. Now that they have a permanent residence, we can do that. My parents drove out this week, and I'm going to fly to meet them on Tuesday. I won't be back in Indiana until the 18th, and I won't be back in the office until later on the 19th.
Please pray for the trip, the flights, the drive back, and then the biopsy that I immediately come back to on the morning of the 19th.
See you on the flip side.
30 hours for admin and maintenance.
25 hours for booklet creation and proofing.
10 hours for meetings about stuff I do and do not need to know.
5 hours for training.
5 hours for emails and phone calls.
Notice I'm not including anything for breaks, meals, mental health, physical health, chapel, prayer, or fellowship.
So I'm feeling a bit of strain. This week has been another crazy one. You can tell people are getting ready for all of the guests and field missionaries and the Board. I'm not saying we're all feeling the pressure, but I've seen a few chickens with suspiciously short necks.
This week I've been focused mainly on Mongolian. Veronica was able to figure out why my files were doing weird things, so I was able to basically start over again on the first group. I'm enjoying working with a new language, but I wasn't kidding about it being a long language. I'm having to get creative about fitting everything in, but in some cases, I've had to add pages. It's not my favorite thing to do, but sometimes it's necessary for readability.
Trista is doing really well with learning all the new stuff! Plus, she asks good questions, so she makes my job easier. It's a pleasure to have someone helping the team!
We also had orientation this week, which of course means History of Christianity. I tried to sprinkle a few more tidbits into the timeline to give some context to the wider world. It’s such a short time to cover such a huge topic. But I always enjoy it.
I gave a little teaser last week about something new coming up. We actually have at least three new books coming to Train & Multiply! As our partners have used the booklets, we've noticed certain topics that could be expanded or are just missing. Two of the booklets were created at the request of our Village Church Planting team. I haven't talked about them much because they use a different method (obviously), but they are rewriting the curriculum and incorporating some T&M elements. We thought those booklets sounded like a good idea, so we're adding them to what we offer. I've been editing one of them this week, trying to make it look and sound more like what we already have. We need to keep the information and formatting consistent, especially since we already referenced one of the books (yes, before we wrote it - call it motivation to actually get it done).
Yesterday was probably the craziest day. I had a meeting from 8-9, another from 9-10:30, I helped Sarah pick up lunch from 11:15-11:45, lunch with interns sponsored by ECC from 12-1:30, and then I could actually sit down and do some work on booklets.
So yeah. Crazy week.
Which is why this is the perfect time to take a little break.
This has actually been planned for a few months. We've been wanting to visit my sister in Wyoming pretty much since she moved there. Now that they have a permanent residence, we can do that. My parents drove out this week, and I'm going to fly to meet them on Tuesday. I won't be back in Indiana until the 18th, and I won't be back in the office until later on the 19th.
Please pray for the trip, the flights, the drive back, and then the biopsy that I immediately come back to on the morning of the 19th.
See you on the flip side.
Yeah, that's not good math there with all those hours. But you're rocking it. And it sounds like great timing for a break. :)
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