The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 3-7, 2019

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.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 28-31, 2019

Why is it that four-day weeks always feel longer than five-day weeks?

Seriously. This week felt crazy long.

But it was a productive week, so that's a fair trade, right?

Yes, I am very pleased to announce that the last six groups of Hakha Chin have been published, which means the entire language is done, and I never have to see those files again! (Until edition 5.) It's been a long haul, but I know the files look good and will be used to bring more people to Jesus in Myanmar and wherever Chin people reside.

Finishing that allowed me to start a brand new language: Mongolian! This is quite an interesting language. It's all Cyrillic, so you'd think it was Russian at first glance. But it's curvier than Russian. And longer.

So much longer.

I think this might vie for the record, actually. I didn't think it was possible after Tagalog. But I'll know more after I get through them. Which is impossible right now, because the other thing I'm good at is finding weird problems that have no visible solution. Such as an entire design element disappearing without warning and no rhyme or reason known. So I'm taking the opportunity to update you lovely people while I wait to find out what I/the program did and how to resolve it.

My other project for this week has been cleaning out my desk. No, I'm not leaving or moving. But my desk was beginning to look like an archeological expedition. So I took some time to make it a little nicer. It's totally a coincidence that I'm doing it right before the Board comes for meetings. (It actually is. Lord knows it's not in my nature to make nice for authority. Seriously. We've had extensive talks about it.)

We heard from the interns in chapel this week. We have five with us this summer. None in ECC, but I do see them every now and then on my rambles. Speaking of:

This was the BUS today. Have I talked about the BUS yet? It's a fairly recent thing. A few of us noticed that we were sitting a bit too long at our desks without some kind of physical activity. So we take it upon ourselves to go for a walk twice a day. Sometimes through the building. Sometimes we do a lap outside. Sometimes the BUS is me and I am the BUS. Sometimes it's eight people. You never know. But it's a good thing. We see people we don't normally see, we get a little exercise in, and we foster inter-departmental cooperation. Or something.

Here's another fun tidbit.

So for months now, I've been getting stuff like this in the office mail. And you're thinking, sure, why not? She's team leader now. Except I've only ever made that announcement internally and to you guys. It's not on LinkedIn. It's not on the website. I don't know how else stuff like this gets out. But someone, somewhere, knows my job description changed. Except they don't really. Because for whatever reason, they think I'm in HR. Or Marketing. I get a ton of this. And it's not going to everyone like a blanket mailing. No. This is just for me. Training Specialist. (Not my title.)

Also, if you look closely at that photo, there is a small spoiler for a future something coming to T&M. So you can chew on that for a bit.

I think that's it for me. I'm gonna go enjoy my new water heater (oh yeah, it sprang a leak last weekend when I wasn't here - downstairs is TRASHED) and sleep for a bajillion years.

Peace.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 20-24, 2019

This has been a weird week.

Though, I feel like I start a lot of my posts with that. So maybe it's been a normal week, and the weeks I previously considered normal are actually the abnormal ones.

Maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep.

Whichever it is, every day this week, I've forgotten what day it actually was and attributed to it another name. Multiple times. I think I actually cried once when I woke up and realized it was only Wednesday.

But it is now Friday, and I have a three-day weekend ahead of me! Glory hallelujah.

The Hakha Chin saga continues. I calculated earlier this week that about 75% of my job is now administrative tasks - managing file systems, assigning projects, checking projects, and creating templates for new projects. I miss actually working on booklets, but this work is just as important to keep everything running smoothly. I feel like I'm understanding more of the entire process now, too, which is definitely an improvement.

But, boy, is it ever mentally taxing.

Plus, my computer is having fits again. That got old real fast.

Apropos of nothing, here's my favorite quote heard around the office this week:

"Keep your clothes on, and everything will be fine."

Sometimes I don't know where I work, anymore.

On a more responsible note, I want to talk a little bit about chapel this week. The speaker was our head of Information Services. Honestly, we don't see George much around the office. He's got his head buried in computers and code and all that fun stuff most of the time. But he had some really great stuff to say on Wednesday. I'll try to sum up and paraphrase it as I heard and understood it.

We all have a story. If we're believers, then we have a testimony. It's the story of how and when Jesus opened our eyes to the Truth of who He is and what He does for us. It's something personal and unique to every follower of Christ.

But sometimes it gets co-opted by other people. Sometimes we feel like we don't have as good a testimony as other people. Sometimes we judge other people because of what we hear in their testimony. All of these things and more happen a lot. And it's dumb. Every testimony is amazing because it's the story of how someone didn't know Jesus, but then they did, and EVERYTHING CHANGED. We're going to live forever with Jesus - that's what we should be celebrating.

I understand those who think their testimony isn't as dramatic or inspiring as others'. I felt that way for a long time. I was four when I asked Jesus into my heart, and I was in seventh grade when I decided that I wanted that to be a serious commitment. I hadn't lived a lot of life. It certainly wasn't a hard life. There were no drugs, no prisons, no unexpected children or expected children or near-death experiences (children). There was just my stupid brain and its inability to accept nice things.

My testimony has evolved over the years. I talk more about the ongoing process now than the initial event. But it's just as undramatic as it always was. And that's just fine. Angels rejoiced just as much when I followed Christ as they do when anyone else does. And I don't want anyone else's story. I don't want anyone else's life. I'm equipped to handle my own with Christ's help.

But let's talk about everyone else now. Because here's the only assumption that should be made about other people's lives: they need Jesus. We know this because Jesus said He's the only way to heaven, and God doesn't want anyone to perish. So, everyone needs Jesus.

It's up to them, though, to decide why. How often do you look at someone and assume you know at least part of their story because of how they are dressed or what they are doing or where they live? Maybe you're right. But if you use that as the starting point for why they need Jesus, you probably won't get the response you wanted. People know they are broken. Everyone is broken in some way. But don't assume you know where that brokenness is. Because the thing that would be a defect in your own life may just be life to them. It's all they know. It's like the family that doesn't know they are poor until someone tells them so.

I don't think I'm explaining this well. I've been thinking about this a lot, and it's lining up with other thoughts I've had, mainly about how we shouldn't blame our current situation on past events. Things happen. But it's our response to those things that determines how those things impact us. Don't let someone else tell you how something should impact you. You have a choice. There are things that happened in my life that are sad or bad or however else someone might define them. Some people would look at those things and decide that they know something about me and why I am the way I am or assume that they had a certain effect. But to me, they were just life. I responded to some of those things in a positive way. I responded to others in a negative way. Those responses had more to do with how those events made an impact on my future than the events themselves.

Mostly, I'm just asking you to take a step back and think before you assume where someone's brokenness lies. Jesus is the only one who can fix those spaces anyway.

...


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Have a good weekend?

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 29-May 17, 2019

"Are you aware that you didn't do a blog post last week?"

Yes. Yes, I am.

"Are you aware that you also didn't do one the week before last?"

Uh... I got out of the habit?

My sincerest apologies. Truly. I can't even give you a good excuse. A mediocre one, maybe. But considering I was actually in the office alone for the majority of the week before last, and then mostly alone last week, I really should have had better time management and cranked something out.

Alas.

Here's my mediocre excuse: during the time I usually write a blog post, I was actually training our new production specialist. So there's that.

Seriously, though. Time management.

I am actually trying. We're ramping up into the crazy season at OMS. Summer is always people people people, and while I may not have a lot to do with everyone coming in, I do interact with the regular HQ folks who are now distracted by all of the interns and field missionaries and new missionary candidates. It's a delicate balance. I want to be respectful of their responsibilities, but I also want to give them a chance to breathe for a bit.

Two weeks ago, of course, was the CMF seminar. That's why I was the only one in the office most of the week. All of our church multiplication facilitators come to Greenwood to learn about new methods and give reports and have a nice time of fellowship. I did hang out there a bit, but it was mostly good to get some solid quiet time to crank out booklets.

So, the big story lately is my new production specialist. Her name is Trista, and yes, we roomed together in college. I think it helps that we know each other pretty well. She's used to me being a bit scatter-brained, and I know she can handle what I throw at her. I'm trying not to throw too much at once, but I think by now you know that this process is a behemoth. It's so interconnected and dependent on every part of the process going smoothly. It's hard to know where to start sometimes. But we're making good progress.

I'm also still being trained myself. T&M is a bit like an onion. There are always more layers to it, and while I've gotten close to the core, there are always more things to learn. Veronica and I have been working on how to actually create a project mostly from scratch. It's incredibly technical, so I won't try to explain (unless you ask), but I find it very interesting, and I think it is giving me a more rounded view of T&M. Just don't ask me to create a right-to-left language yet.

Meanwhile, I'm also managing the rest of the team and trying to figure out which projects are priority. Plus, I've personally worked on Japanese, Hindi, and Haitian Creole in the last few weeks, AND I'm trying to get the last six groups of Hakha Chin published. Still. Plus, we had our campus work day on Tuesday. I cleaned out some super gross fridges, sanitized door handles, and steam-cleaned the floor in the fellowship hall. (Long-time readers might remember my history with that floor. No bruises this time.) Then on Wednesday, I got to sing in chapel again. We did a fun new song that I will link to below.

Not slacking, then, obviously. I just don't have a new routine down, yet. But I hope this post gives you some hope that I haven't abandoned you, nor do I intend to.

I love you 3000.

This turkey had been in the freezer for waaaaay too long. Bon voyage.

That's Hannah in the picture with me. She's one of our new admin assistants in T&M.

 You can see the clean strip in the middle. I switched sides on the steamer cloth about halfway through. The floor was gross.

As promised, the song:

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 22-25, 2019

Hey, hey, the gang's all here!

Yes, I know, I missed last week. We had Friday off, of course, so I made my way north to celebrate the holiday with my parents. I hope you had as excellent an Easter as I did. 

So last week, I was able to complete two groups of Japanese booklets. Those are out for review, and if we can get those back in, we're well on our way to completing one of our quarterly goals. 

This week, we have new people in the office! Hurray! Hannah is a new administrative assistant for Train & Multiply. She's here to help us keep our files in order and give Brian (my boss and T&M Publisher) a bit of a break. Gloria is the new administrative assistant for Village Church Planting. This method of church multiplication is primarily used in Africa, and they've been undergoing a rewrite. It's connected to T&M because they want to use some of our materials, and they are writing two new books that we'll eventually incorporate into our program. We're all one big happy family here! I'm very happy to have Hannah and Gloria join the team, and if I think of it, I'll work on a team pic soon.

Hey, radio is back! I edited the script this time and recorded our latest venture on Wednesday. I think it won't be mixed until next week, but it was nice to be back in the studio. This one is a bit tricky because of sound effects, but I'm confident it'll turn out well. As always, I'll post the link when I have it.

This week has been primarily taken up with Haitian Creole. I was able to send three groups off for review, so we're moving full steam ahead. 

I think I almost prefer non-Latin languages. I like the ones with squiggles and whirls, because I have zero chance of knowing what it says, which means I can't second-guess everything from the translator. But, I have to admit, it can be interesting to pick out certain words and phrases in the Latin languages. I at least know the word for God in several languages now, so that might come in handy someday. 

Speaking of squiggles, I am now working in Hindi. It's an oldie but goody for me, and we're finally making some progress beyond the first three groups.

Of course, the big news this week was the premier of "Avengers: Endgame." I went to see it Thursday night with Sarah. No spoilers, I promise, but it is AMAZING!!! It's the perfect culmination of 10 years' worth of films. I have much love for these characters and the actors who play them, and though the end can be bittersweet, it's also everything we deserved and more.

Next week is the CMF seminar. I typically don't have to do much for that, but you never know what's gonna come up. In the meantime, have an excellent weekend!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 8-12, 2019

Remember when I was super excited about getting to create new booklets?

I'm not eating my words. But I might be choking a little.

I did actually get one group of Japanese done. But it's been hard fought. The font does not always cooperate, so I get those fun little boxes that look like I'm using Wingdings when it's supposed to be Kozuka Gothic.

It looks a little bit like that.

So I'm kind of skipping around in the groups to finish booklets that don't have a mysterious error, then I can go back and try to figure out why it's doing what it's doing.

Other than that, it's been a pretty straightforward week. The roof of the building is coming off, so I've been hanging out in my friend's office upstairs to watch various people defy death by walking around up there. But not too long, because I don't even like heights when other people are the ones in them.

Staff briefing on Wednesday went quite long, and we discovered that Thursday's work day had been postponed until May. But it was nice outside, so we did take a walk in the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine.

I have a stack of organizer agreements on my desk that need to be filed. And then another stack of paperwork from Canada that needs to be organized and filed. Basically, I have a lot of stuff on my desk that really doesn't need to be there. Feel free to take bets on when it actually goes away.

Closest to never will probably win. 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 1-5, 2019

I think - but don't quote me on this - even though it's in writing and you'd be well within your rights to actually link to this very blog post because I am far too casual with my words - but I think I might actually get to create booklets next week instead of working on booklets that have already been created or published or proofed before.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Seriously, though, I feel like I've been playing a lot of catch up. I'm trying to get all of our languages as up to speed as possible. It's hard to see that any progress is made because the files have been through so many hands. But I think we're getting there. I'm becoming more familiar with assigning projects and doing quality control. It's a complex process, though.

We say that a lot around here. It's complex, but it isn't complicated. In other words, there's a lot to do, but it isn't necessarily difficult stuff. Sure, it does require some foreknowledge of programs and grammar and communication skills. But once you learn the processes, you should be able to progress through them fairly easily.

Should be.

Hindi did its best to challenge this maxim this week.

I did okay for the most part. But there's this one part in publishing where you have to jump ahead in order to move forward as normal. And I get that this won't make much sense. But this is by far the most complex part of the process. And it nearly beat me today.

It didn't, of course. I prevailed. But it was a close one.

Next week: Japanese.

If you're in the Huntington area this weekend, my lovely coworker Sarah will be joining me in speaking at New Hope UB Church. We have amazing things planned, so we hope to see you there.

Au revoir!