Office Frustrations

Lately I have been stressed. Summer is coming sooner than I would ever want and there is still much to be done. Usually when there's an upcoming holiday I look forward to a day to kick back and hang out with people. Not this time. I look at this Memorial Day as a time stealer. One less day this week that I can get things done and one day longer that I have to wait to talk to the people I need to.

It takes me quite a long time to get to the point of being frustrated or frazzled but once I get there I cannot come down until the task is resolved. Unfortunately I am over a week away from resolution and the stress continues to take a toll on my sleep and back muscles.

It's not the events of the summer that have me worried, it's not the responsibilities that I will assume, and certainly not the amount of teaching that I will have to do; all of that I'm excited for. No, it's the paperwork. It's all the last minute paper work no one sees as being important until someone is demanding they have it. I wish that people took more care in complying with the seemingly insignificant tasks. I know my life would benefit from it.

But you know what? The summer will come and the summer will go and trips will happen and all will be well. Just getting to that point right now seems impossible.

I was walking in Memphis, but nowhere near Beal Street.

I've been home from my trip in Memphis for a whole 24-hours and thought that I would write a little about the last week while it's still fresh on my mind. I'm going to be in Memphis for about 9 weeks this summer so I was hoping that this trip would flesh out possible work projects and VBS sites. I got a whole lot more than I expected.
We showed up at our ministry partner's house on Saturday (the day before our trip is set to start) to find that our concrete project for the upcoming trip had fallen through, but there was hope. A friend of our ministry partners needed some improvements done to their house. We decided to go take a look at what we could do to help and if it was going to be enough to keep 13 students and 6 adults bust for a week. Within ten minutes of being at the house I quickly realized that this was not going to be your ordinary house. We were warmly greeted, shown all around, and glimpsed a little of their vision for change in the heart of Memphis. This wasn't just a house but a community of creative believers with the mission of loving their neighbors. These people were so focused and dedicated to serving other people that they had no time to keep up their own living space.
The whole week unfolded story after story of how these people came to live together and the mission that kept them there. In the beginning, these people were strangers brought together by coincidental meetings and opportunities, which grew into a mission minded community. Since then walls have been broken down (literally and figuratively) to make room for these changes.

I am always amazed at how the seemingly coincidental meetings of people turn out to be less than coincidental. Which makes me wonder about this "coincidence." I saw in that house what I want for my future: community, service, and love. I don't think it was any coincidence that our original project fell through. I think that this is another story in the making of how creative and all-knowing our God truly is.

Lets start from the beginning.

I've titled this No End Like The Deep End because I feel as though that's how I live my life. Most people wade into the water and then dive in when they find the risk is worth taking. Me? I don't even bother to perch my feet on the side of the pool to see what's at the bottom; I dive in cannonball style and pray that I can swim and it seems to work for me.

I live and work in a suburb of Chicago with a leadership development organization called LeaderTreks. Since signing on in 2009 my life has never been the same. Adventure follows me around like a hungry puppy and my life has more purpose than I've ever known. This blog is for me, so I can unpack my experiences as they happen and for you so you can share in the joys and failures that come with living life in the deep end.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm going to enjoy letting you into the adventure I call life.