Feeling a Friday Funk

I had a "heart to heart" with God this morning.  I was feeling drained, discouraged, disappointed with my state of affairs in general.  I was having a genuine personal pity-party.  Call it an Elijah moment, without the literal fire from heaven.  It has been a whirlwind for the past few weeks.  A lot of my focus has been on Thunderbird Academy, and without a permanent replacement in the foreseeable future for the previous principal, TAA needed some attention to get their new school year going.  Thankfully, Thunderbird is off and running, but going through some growing pains.  A freshman class of around forty students has required splitting classes and reassigning students to different periods.  Class schedules are subject to the domino effect, as one change causes a sequence of ripples across the entire day.  But it’s a good problem.  The students (and the teachers) are being quite flexible.  There appears to be a great spirit on campus, in spite of the large staff transition.

But now the days are beginning to return to their normalcy, as normal as high school campuses go.  In the steady frenzy (not to be confused with the chaotic frenzy of recent weeks) I had more time to see the landscape and the daunting nature of the dual task that is before me.  I don’t like short-changing people, and the thought of neglecting the bigger system for the sake of focusing on one particular segment of that system began to eat at me.  For those who would think that I have totally neglected the system, I have done my best  not to.  I will talk about those developments in the near future.   In fact, it is because of the corollary challenges in the elementary system that I was feeling stretched—thus my heart to heart with God this morning.

I am feeling better.  Perhaps because I am back working—I love what I do.  I would do it 24 hours a day if I could.  I love working with people—kids particularly.  But I also like problem-solving and bringing people together.  I even like apologizing to parents who are upset due to some perceived or real injustice and/or inconvenience.  I am stretched, but loving it.  It’s the quiet moments in the night when the thoughts swirl in my head (no voices, thank you) that the doubts and trepidation break down the doors of my soul.  Superintendents are not “super,” by any stretch of the imagination.  I ask for your prayers.  I am praying a lot.  I am trying to find balance amongst the myriad of calls for attention.

After the “mountain top” experience of the week of miracles at TAA, I am left wondering when the proverbial shoe will drop.  So many things can go wrong in a system.  A school system has so many moving parts- mainly children.  They are our greatest asset, and at the same time our greatest liability.  Here by the Grace of God we go…His Grace will have to be sufficient.  (I started this entry on Thursday.  It’s now Friday afternoon).

Sabbath will take me to Beacon Light SDA Church to preach.   Later.

Day One Update

Day One is here!  Very exciting day at TAA and TCE.  I had a chance to do some mini-visits at the elementary side of the campus.  Some of the classrooms were given a major makeover.  It’s wonderful, as was seeing some parents who were on the fence last week about returning to TCE.  It was great to find them there—all smiles as they took pictures with their child.  All the classrooms seemed full of excited students and corresponding parents taking pictures like a gathering of paparazzi intent on getting the right shot.

TAA kids looked good on their first day.  There are areas that need tweaking, but we will get there.  Keep all our schools in your prayers.  I hear from Saguaro Hills that they may be looking at 36 or perhaps 39 students in school.  They hired a third teacher to spread the joy of teaching amongst the three of them!  That’s pretty awesome.   Back to work!

Registration Day Epilogue

Registrations Day is over officially.  Some students may still come tomorrow or trickle in for the next few days, but no other day like today is anticipated anytime soon.

To put our numbers today deserves a little perspective to temper the expectations.  Our budget for the school year was built on 112 students.  This was done based on a conservative appraisal of the state of the economy and other financial indicators.  It seemed like a reasonable number to shoot for at the time.

I must confess that I remembered the figure as closer to 119.  This is the number on which I was proceeding.  I know our staffing need required at least that much.  When the large turnover in staffing took place, our once balanced budget quickly turned upside down.   Seeking qualified teachers to take the place of the outstanding teachers already in place required not only a rise in the cost of their salaries, but also moving allowances (these can be quite costly).  Even 119 students did not cover the budget, but I figured some cost saving measures (including saving a principal’s budget) might get us close enough to break even.

I did not want to just break even.  I knew we would need more students to fully fund the initiatives we had launched, even after the valuable assistance of the Alumni Awards Foundation.  I decided 130 students would come close.  I knew it was a stretch, considering the delicate state of the community in the wake of such painful staff transitions.  I prayed for 130 students.  We prayed as a staff for that number.  I shared that number with the recruitment team.  We called potential students.  We prayed.  We called again.  We prayed some more.   We visited Tween and Teen Camp at Yavapines in Prescott.  We prayed even more.  We visited the churches to preach.  We called every returning and potentially returning student.  We even made calls to people who had decided to pull out.  At every step we prayed for the students God wanted to bring here.  We prayed for 130, but recognized that God could choose to send us less.

Our figures at the end of registration day were 136 students already in the fold, with a few more potential students trickling in.  Lesson learned:  be careful what you pray for—you may get more that you bargained for.  So now we have to figure out what to do with 43 freshmen!  It’s a good problem, but a problem nonetheless.  Keep TAA in your prayers.  Whatever good happened is a God thing!  I am just jazzed to be a part of it.

I met a lot of great kids today!  I prayed with a lot of families in my office.  That alone will be worth any loss of future sleep and rest.  Day One—tomorrow.

Summer Break is Ended

T minus 1.  I only have time for a short entry.  It’s 7:15 on Sunday morning.  The First Day of School is tomorrow.  Registration takes place today.  A lot of preparation has taken place in the days leading up to today.  Undoubtedly, something is bound to be missing or go wrong, in spite of our due diligence.  In the end, the people God wants in any of the elementary schools around the conference will come.  God will bring as many as we are ready to receive.  It is our job to receive them and provide them the best education possible.

The butterflies are fluttering in the pit of my stomach, but it’s a good feeling.  God is good—all the time.  I live my life in the reality of His presence and leading—although life may not always unfold in ways we would have chosen.  Prayers are needed.  Students are needed. We are prepared for more, but we will take as many as God sends us.

Sunday's a Comin!"

Where did the week go?  The whirlwind of activity, both locally at TAA as well as across the elementary school system has come to a stop today—it’s Sabbath!  Hallelujah! 

Last night our campus chaplain led out in a room by room dedication of the campus and the staff.  It was a great, albeit muggy, evening of songs and prayer.  We even prayed next to a trash bin full of refuse from the week of activity to recognize the maintenance crew who worked as hard as anyone to make the campus ready for next week.

We are not quite there yet, some furnishings and equipment did not arrive on schedule; some touch-ups and last minute movements still remain, but all in all the campus looks great.  I am looking forward to seeing the parents and students on Sunday.

Today, however, will take Penny and me to Cottonwood, Arizona—a small enclave between Jerome and Sedona, between the hills to the north of Phoenix.  I am scheduled to preach during the morning worship hour.  I am pretty excited about the passage that God led me to—Psalms 13.  Check it out.  It begins as a pretty gut-wrenching description of King David in one of his many moments of personal struggle.  It ends surprisingly with a statement that cancels out the entire Psalm.  But what a statement!  I am drawing from the brief life sketch of Eve to bring the passage home.  In any case I am looking forward to a preaching to the saints in Verde Valley (that’s what the area is called).

As Tony Campolo used to say (for totally different reasons!) in his own indomitable preaching style, “Sunday’s a comin!”  But until then we rest today (those are my words).  Gotta run!

Pre-Week Update

We are down to the wire!  The week has been peppered by conference-wide and academy specific in-services and meetings with parents, students, and colleagues.  The painting projects are almost finished.  Carpets are being cleaned or replaced.  Doors are being fixed.  Windows are being cleaned.  Floors vacuumed. Sidewalks cleared.  Students are beginning to arrive on campus to begin their work assignments.  It’s beginning to buzz.  It is exciting!

Yet the reality lingers that so much remains to be done.  The cafeteria projects are behind schedule, but I am still hopeful.  Anyone want to donate to that project?  The furniture for the student center is being delayed, but it should get here right at the wire.  The library relocation project is in full swing, but technical difficulties have arisen with the hardware.  Equipment ordered for the Physics Department and the library has not arrived as of today.  The flooring for the Life Skills Room is not in place…yet.  But hope springs eternal!

We had a great In-Service for all schools on Monday.  We dealt with team building and the “Speed of Trust.”  I hope it sinks in.  Working with people is a joy, but it is not for people who work on the basis of distrust.  It is much too costly a way of doing business.  I hope that every school in this conference will gain or foment a reputation for being customer service friendly.  We would be miles ahead if we just learned to treat people well.  It can be difficult at times, but people should know that we value them, even when are unreasonable. 

Well, anyway, TAA pre-week meeting is scheduled every morning this week.  Lots to discuss, but I will break it up to allow them the opportunity to finish their classroom.  I also need time to keep up with the e-mails and phone calls that seem to never end.  As with a kidney stone—“this too shall pass

Sleepless in Scottsdale

I realized last night that my day is not long enough to complete my tasks for the day.  I was falling behind more and more each day.  So I got up much earlier today and we’ll see what happens.  So far, it has been a productive pre-morning.  Perhaps my schedule will have to be designed in such a way that I begin my pre-day at the conference office before I go to TAA.

In any case, last night was very restless.  I could not go to sleep.  For those who know me best, they know that I can fall asleep anywhere and at any time without much effort.  But there have been two nights this week when I literally could not go to sleep!  The problem is circular since the harder you try to go to sleep the more likely you are to fail at it.  I was even tempted to go to work at about two in the morning since I was wasting valuable time!  Thankfully, I did not follow through on that self-threat.  I prayed for sleep and I got it soon after.

TAA pre-registration takes place this afternoon.  I have yet to interview one single Athletic Director.  We finally settled on a logo for the uniforms.  The schedule is almost there.  The uniform policy is close.  The handbook is not!  A major meeting is scheduled this evening between local church and school leadership.  Lots of prayers are needed!  But a lot of good things are taking place too.  We will keep doing what we do and trust that God will do what He alone can do.  The countdown continues.

               Gotta go!