Back to the Battle

I find myself at the airport in San Jose.  Penny and I are heading back to civilization!  It’s been a great weekend, but it’s time to get to work.  The days that lie ahead a fraught with challenges and obstacles, but I still believe God brought me to Arizona for a reason.  It was once said, “There is no glory in the victory without a fight in the battle.”  Well, I’m off to do battle.  Long trip ahead.

Sabbath in San Simeon

It was nice to sleep in this morning.   I woke up at 8:00 a.m. to the sounds of the Hope Channel.  Penny was on her Facebook account and as a result I heard my niece Alexis sing a song she composed and then listened to Daniel, my nephew, play a piano piece I suspect he also composed.  That was pretty cool.  It’s amazing to think that I can listen to songs from family members who would probably be too shy to sing or play in front of me, but that are willing to put it out there for total strangers to hear on the Internet.

Today is planned for the superintendents.  We have an informal worship and fellowship time scheduled later this morning, followed by lunch and a tour of the bay later in the afternoon.  The superintendents and their spouses are a pleasant enough group of people.  We seem to get along quite well.  The newly appointed union-wide superintendent was a classmate of Penny’s way back many years ago.  There are three new superintendents in the union this year: Arlen is now  serving in the Nevada-Utah conference, Bill in Northern California, and Harold in Southern California.  Harold could not make it for this meeting. 

Last night we had an informal vespers program on a bluff overlooking the beach.  We sang a lot of old and older songs while sitting in front of the fire pit.  We ate some homemade vegi-patties, prepared from scratch by Ted, the Union Treasurer who is married to Beverly, the administrative assistant to the Superintendent of Schools of the union who used to work with the dean of men at La Sierra University when I went to school with…oh, never mind.  I could go on.  Fun group!  Looking forward to Sabbath.

San Simeon Scenery

I look out the sliding door from the balcony of the hotel room in which Penny and I spent the short night and I see the marine layer over the Pacific Ocean on the coast of San Simeon, California.  It is beautiful, in an overcast and frigid sort of way, particularly for someone who lives in the Valley of the Sun! Penny and I arrived a few minutes after midnight from our journey across the desert via San Jose.  The Superintendent’s Retreat begins in earnest today.

 I fell asleep like a log last night (after the drive concluded).  I am looking forward to spending the day with Penny and my colleagues, but my mind will undoubtedly be drawn to the tasks that are beckoning me from Scottsdale.  I am aware that I need the time to refuel and perhaps this weekend will afford me that opportunity.  It will be nice to spend some unencumbered time over the Sabbath hours with Penny.  We all need to slow down occasionally (weekly?) to take stock and reprioritize our lives. 

I have a slew of emails and phone calls that cannot be ignored.  Teachers report to school on Monday.  Paperwork sits on three desks in Arizona.  Projects in various stages call for my attention.  Next week promises to be a hectic one as students begin to realize that they have not yet registered for school.

I feel guilty for not being at my post in Arizona.  So here I am feeling a bit melancholic as I type these lines while the mighty Pacific pounds against the shore a mere 50 yards from my balcony.  Thank you, Lord…but help me set aside my burdens long enough to be reminded that what I do is secondary to who I am.  Sadly, it is always a temptation to lose the latter as I seek to tackle the former.  Perhaps this is the reason God brought me here during the most hectic moment of the summer.  I’ll try to relax…wait, where’s my iPhone!

I Know the Way to San Jose

It’s 4:30 a.m. on Thursday and I will be leaving in a few minutes to California.  I am on my way to the Pacific Union Conference Superintendent’s Retreat in Central California by way of Desert Hot Springs, where I will be taking my mother to help her move in to her new home.  There is a part of me that would have preferred to remain closer to home on this last weekend before the day all Arizona Conference teachers report to their assigned schools across the conference, but alas, this is the one summer meeting I was convinced not to cross off my calendar.

The move for my mom is a necessary task.  It will be my mother’s third move in the last year and a half.  She is 80 going on 18!  She has been staying with Penny and me for the last few weeks, but she is determined to live independently.  She has a large group of church friends in Desert Hot Springs.  She even gets to preach at the local Spanish Church.  I can’t offer the same opportunities here in Arizona, although given enough time she would probably get pretty involved in a local church anywhere she lived.

I will be flying out with Penny from Ontario, California, and landing in San Jose, where we will take a rental car to our final destination down the coast—I don’t know exactly where, but it sounds like a nice place.  Two new superintendents are part of the body of administrators scheduled to meet.  Bill and Harold are two newly appointed superintendents-- - Northern and Southern California Conferences respectively.  I will return to the beginning of the school year for all educational employees.  Exciting times ahead!

The End is Near

It’s 7:48 a.m. and I find myself in the principal’s office.  There is nothing unusual about that at this time of my life.  There seems to be a principal on the horizon as the search continues for a permanent principal to sit in this office.  I hope to interview him next week.  At best, he will be here late in the year due to previous commitments.  To the few who read this blog—that is a bit of good news.  To my wife, it warrants a mixed review, since she would want me to be less stretched than she has seen me recently.

I must confess that TAA has consumed the lion’s share of my time recently.  I also confess that I have neglected my responsibilities at the conference office (this will undoubtedly serve as fodder for some).  In spite of my best laid plans—that is, to transfer my business to the conference office after lunch each day, this has not happened once since I began my split schedule.  I find myself arriving at the Superintendent’s Office late in the afternoon and at times not at all.  Don’t get me wrong, I still contact people and attend meetings as a Superintendent, it’s just frustrating not to be able to keep a schedule I created for the purpose of minimizing the impact of my dual role.

On the bright side we may have taken a step to avert a major conflict between a local church and a local elementary church school in Arizona.  We had a potentially caustic meeting which ended up with a commitment to follow up with a joint meeting between the leadership of both entities.  It was tense and at times terse, but in the end there was the promise of the follow up meeting on Monday.

The TAA school doors and frames paint project began in earnest yesterday.  The color is no doubt eye-catching.  People will notice the difference immediately.  There are flowers in large pots lining the center sidewalk of the school.  They can be seen as you enter the main school road.  The main entrance will also be worked on in order to replace some of the tired plants that were placed there a few years ago.  The intense sun can tax the lifespan of most plants, even native ones.

The Penny Days of Summer in Arizona are almost over.  I have enjoyed having her here for the major part of the summer break.  It has been a busy one for both of us and it’s hard to believe it’s almost over.  All that remains is the Superintendent’s Meeting in Central California—which she is attending with me.  Upon the conclusion of that meeting she will stay in California and I will return to Arizona. 

The last few days have been, nonetheless, unforgettable.  I have been in the company of my wife, Penny—that’s true.  Beyond that, however, I have also been gifted by the presence of my mother who is in transition to her new home in Desert Hot Springs, in California.  That’s two women in the house—always a recipe for excitement.  Add to that mixture five visitors brought over by my beautiful wife, Penny.  Just to clarify, these visitors are also female…and in addition, developmentally disadvantaged.  Penny decided they needed a vacation from their residential facility in California.  Scottsdale in the summer was her suggestion to their caretaker.

She packed the ladies up in a mini-van and arrived at the doorstep three days ago—the doorstep to the TAA duplex I presently call home.  In the interest of full disclosure—that’s the duplex has only two rooms and ONE bathroom.  You do the math!  Seven women, two bedrooms, and one bathroom.  What a way to end the summer.  Boy, the stories I could tell…and I may, but not now, since I actually have to get to work.

God is good!

Update: 27 Days from D-Day

I am at Camp Yavapines, an Arizona Conference youth camp near Prescott.  I find myself serving as a camp pastor for 220 “tweens.”  Perhaps you may be wondering why I am in Prescott, Arizona, instead of in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Thunderbird Academy is located?  That would be a good question.  Let me bring you up to date on recent developments.

On Friday, the last day I recorded in this journal, I did not even have Tween Camp on my mental radar.  I had long considered it dealt with by people who had assured me as much in the days prior.

I went to Show Low, Arizona on Sabbath morning to preach.  I was not concerned at all about Prescott.  Last week I had made appointments into the new week in total confidence that I would be in the office tending to the many unfinished items on the campus, not the least is a Town Hall for Thunderbird parents and stakeholders to be held this coming Thursday.  I also had meetings with the new administrative assistant for Thunderbird, not to mention some parents coming to enroll their children at Thunderbird.  Painters, plumbers, cleaners, landscapers, were all on my immediate calendar for the new week.

But, alas, this was not to be.  Late on Saturday night I received a text from the Camp Director, who was unaware of any arrangements to the contrary, asking what time I would be arriving at camp on Sunday.  I was shocked, but did not let on as I communicated back with him and eventually discovered that in fact I was still scheduled to be camp pastor for the week.  No reprieve was forthcoming!

Don’t get me wrong; I knew I would enjoy myself—which I am doing as.  I knew I would find a special sense of satisfaction speaking to a group of young minds in various stages of their spiritual walk.  That is what makes me tick in a very dedicated corner of my soul.  But the part of me that is called upon to consider consequences and cause versus effect in my life was shouting at me.  I ignored the voice and made arrangements to hitch a ride to camp (Penny was already scheduled to attend a funeral in California on Sunday, so no ride from her was available.

I packed all my piles of papers and “to do lists” from both offices and home into two briefcases and a satchel.  I stuffed some clothes and toiletries into what remained of the paper-weighted satchel and arrived just in time to speak to the tweens for the Sunday evening service.  I truly love every moment of it!  The down side is that I am spending the lion’s share of the day in a borrowed office at camp, making phone calls, answering e-mails and texts, and trying to catch up on the paperwork and documentation that have to be produced for TAA before the beginning of the year.  I do not see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I will have to spend some hours in the evening with uninterrupted time with the computer.

There is the update.  Living the good life!  Loving what I do!  Trusting God will continue to lead and make things happen.  Just today, we secured the donation of a Cessna 182, which in turn became the catalyst for a decision to re-open the ground school for students wanting to take flying lessons.  We think it can be done without putting the academy or the conference at risk.  In the meantime, we are working the details to ensure the aircraft is on our campus before the first day of school.  There is simultaneous work taking place on the cafeteria, the homes, the chapel, the exterior doors and frames, the landscaping, and soon on the library and student center.  All new staff is on campus already.  Some returning staff members have not returned from their summer hiatus.  27 days remain until the first day of school—probably 20 days before we have to have everything in place.  What a ride!  God is Good!

Sabbath, Where are You?

I am in the conference office on a Friday.  The office is closed except for me.  I have been trying to catch up on the pile of work on my desk all week.  I have not succeeded as of yet.  I put a dent on it, but I feel like I am pedaling in place at times.  Now I have two desks with piles of work.

 It has been a productive week at Thunderbird, in spite of my presence.  The cafeteria was in desperate need of repair.  The work will begin on Monday to address some serious plumbing projects.  The TAA Student Center needed to be refurbished.  We have begun the work of preparation.  Lots of cleaning is taking place.  The place is bustling with movement and work.  New teachers are beginning to arrive.  There just does not seem there is enough time to get everything done that need to get done before August 15—the first day of school.

Penny and I are headed to the Show Low Church tomorrow for a preaching commitment.   An early morning awaits both of us.  Sometimes it feels like the earth is spinning out of control and I am just hanging on.  I need Sabbath desperately.  I need to run and hide in the hours God created for me to find rest in Him.  Pray for me.

Blogging again...sort of

I wish I could bring you up to date with all the developments since the last time I blogged…but I can’t.  I will have to do it piecemeal since so much has transpired.  Suffice it to say that at this very moment I am sitting down to begin my day behind the desk of the principal of Thunderbird Adventist Academy.  I have added this responsibility to my duties as Superintendent of Education for the Arizona Conference.  I would go into detail as to how this took place, but I have to get to work….  God’s ways are truly a mystery.