Thursday Night at the Office

I am in the office after hours, with only the president and me in the office. I know he is here because I saw his truck here when I returned from taking my mother home after her afternoon at the beauty parlor. Oh yes, my mother is spending a few days with me. She arrived last Sunday. It has been an adjustment.

There is the issue of reporting in incessantly. If I don't report, then I have to be prepared to answer (or ignore) an unending chain of phone calls to my mobile number. She wants to feed me all this time. She obviously wants to talk all day long-- which really isn't a problem, except I need to be in the office or getting to a meeting. She calls me after hours to see if I am all right. I find myself locking the door to my room afraid she will come in to tuck me in bed or read me a bedtime story. It's a bit of an adjustment. She is, after all, my mom!

In any case, with the new principal, Wayne Longhofer, in place at TAA I am readjusting to being in the office or on the road as before. I am finally catching up on the back work that I did not realize I was behind on.

Up to about a couple of hours ago, I was planning on a full week speaking for a Men's Prayer Retreat at Camp Yavapines. The news of the cancellation was bittersweet. On the one hand I would miss the opportunity to share some messages on prayer that I was looking forward to sharing. On the other hand, with an open weekend I now have the opportunity to visit my family in California. That is good news!

Constituency seems to be on a lot of people's minds nowadays. Since I have not gone through this process before I am a bit clueless about whether I should be stressed or not. I have chosen to be a fatalist about my future in Arizona. After all, I still believe God brought me here. So if He thinks that I have done what He called me to do, then I will gladly move on even if I do not think I have completed the task in my eyes. The next person will be empowered to do the job. It's all a God thing in the end.

On a side note, I am hearing lot of good things from a lot of people who are happy with the direction this conference is taking in terms of education. It is refreshing to hear that good things are happening-- from kids and parents alike. The negativity is limited to people who refuse to see anything but the worst in most situations. I hope they pray for me even as they choose to see the worst in me. I do pray for them. On the bright side, it will all be over on October 2 if it is true that I just can't see the system collapsing around me. God would do well to move me on.

I'm done! Gotta go home before it gets too late. My mom may ground me! (That is a tongue in cheek statement).