Where In The World Have I Been?

I have been absent for quite some time. I know, I know. I had a goal of updating a lot more often than every 3 months, but it has gotten a little hectic. So what exactly has kept me away for so long? Well, a lot.

Most of what has kept me away has been construction on our renovated and new spaces. In January, the gym was turned over to us to re-outfit. The services that were being held in there were made portable during construction. When we were allowed to go back into the gym, we made that system once again permanent. If I said the install was easy and flawless, I'd be lying. This is the first major install project that I had been involved with while a part of this team. I have a few new blogs I'm processing about this whole adventure, including what preparedness actually looks like and the fact that everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has flaws but you have to know them and work through them to be successful. (Sometimes, the flaws that create the biggest issues are your own). The great part is the gym is almost done. Due to a strange set of circumstances, our general contractor was not quite finished by the time we occupied, so there are a few things yet to be done.

The thing that has taken most of my time in the past four weeks is also due to construction, but compounded by my boss being on leave to take care of his father-in-law who currently lives outside North America. So, with the boss gone and a lot to do construction-wise, the rest of the team has had to pick up a heavier load. One of the things that has been passed to me is the care-taking of other ministries that we support. You would think that being in a church, everyone would strive to have a Christ-like attitude. Sadly, that doesn't happen. So, I have gotten to play mediator and make everyone happy. So far, I think I have succeeded in not making anyone more upset, which I will put that in the win column.

Also, with my boss being gone, I have been handed down the assignment of getting bids out to vendors for our next part of the construction phase. I has been a daunting task and huge responsibility that I have never been given before. There is definitely the side of purchasing the right equipment for the job and making sure everything is ordered and arrives on time, but I am being taught that there is something bigger. When you have a list of equipment to get that totals more than $100,000, there are quite a few things that run through my head like, "People have given to the building fund for this; am I dealing wisely with the money they have entrusted to me" and, "What does godly stewardship look like..." All tough thoughts that help me grow. And a par of the whole thing I guess I will have to learn to love is staring at numbers for extended periods of time.

Ok, that catches you up with the last 3 months at work. What does the near future hold for me? Well, a lot more construction stuff. I have to act on the bid lists that have come back. We have to finish classroom audio installs. We have to get about a billion cables and a few pieces of equipment out of the way for the next phase of demolition. We have to finish install in the gym. We have to nail down a few big-ticket items (computers, speakers, sound board, etc) for the atrium. We have to install audio, video and lighting systems from scratch for our 500-seat atrium.

There you go. That's my life. The next time I have a minute or two, I won't be sitting down to write. I'm going to spend time with my wife. But maybe some free-time after that, I will write about some things I've learned that can hopefully help someone in the future.