59 posts tagged “work”

Hello all,

I am in dire need of an original photo that would look nice on our website (church) for our Christmas Eve candlelight service.  It doesn't have to be candles - it could a Christmas tree, fireplace...just something that says "cozy", "calm", "peace", "quiet celebration", etc.

Anyone have one I might borrow/use for a few weeks?

Here I am again, two weeks in a row - woohoo!  I probably won't get to do this next week since I only have three days in the office, but I am going to relish it today!

Notes from The Noticer:

"...a true friend holds you to a higher standard.  A true friend brings out the best in you... A best friend...will tell you the truth...and a wise best friend will include a healthy dose of perspective." (p. 30)

"We grow up expecting everyone else to be just like us.  And they aren't." (p. 42)

"I just think it's amazing...that a person could lose everything, chasing nothing." (p.49)

"...smart people get tripped up with worry and fear.  Worry...fear...is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us.  Because we are smart and creative, we imagine all the things that could happen, that might happen, that will happen if this or that happens." (p.52)

About 8% of what we worry about are legitimate concerns (p.55)

"Most people spend so much time fearing the things that are never going to happen or can't be controlled that they have no energy to deal with the few things they can actually handle." (p. 55)

"...the seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart." (p. 56)

Big takeaway from today's time: Perspective is everything.

A lot of you in my Vox Neighborhood are good photographers.

Not just good.  Great.

Now that I oversee our church's website and various promo items, I am constantly looking for fresh, innovative, creative, original photos.  On a limited budget.

Limited meaning I actually don't have a budget to purchase photos.

If you'd like to help a girl out by allowing me to occasionally use photos of yours that you've posted here or on other hosting sites, such as Flickr, would you send me a PM?  I will let you know what I use, when I use it.

(I will not use photos that show any identifiable parts of a person, such as their face - I am looking for still shots, scenery, or photos with people's faces obscured - or just feet, legs, hands, etc.  And if I am using a lot of your photos, it would move into a paying gig - or, I can give you a charitable contribution letter if you let me know the value.)

Gracias!

I have made a decision to create "white space" in both my work and personal life.  What does that mean?

It simply means taking time to notice things - to be aware.

In the context of my work, this means taking some time out each week, during work hours, to read and study and create.  Rob and I found a local coffee place with free WiFi on Monday, so here I am today.  I don't have as long as I'd like - the original plan was 2 hours, but I am here, and that in and of itself is a good first step.

I want to remember things I read today that resonate with me, so I am going to record them here.  Feel free to tune out from this point forward.

From Leading Smart: Don Miller at Story

"We have a relationship with Scripture that is really strange. We sit down and say, "What's in this for me?" What if it's just a story about God? What if He just wants us to get to know Him?"

"Success doesn't tell a very good story. It takes a character with flaws who does good."

"The story that we are telling ourselves is almost always different than the story we are telling the people around us."

Leading Smart: Dave Gibbons at Story

"When there is personal revelation of your weakness--it more fully releases the power of the Spirit."

Leading Smart: Story Launches with Ed Young

"Everybody wants to reach people until you start reaching people."

"The question is not: "How many people are showing up?" The better question is: "Who are you reaching?"

"Change. Conflict. Growth. That's the sequence. Many people won't change. Or they do change and then stop at the conflict, and they never experience the growth."

The Noticer

"...you see only the sand at your feet and what you are eating that you wish was something else.  I don't tell you this as a rebuke; you are very ordinary in your views...Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases." (p. 13)

"...a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life." (p. 13)

"When a person is negative, complaining, and disagreeable, other people stay away.  And that person receives less encouragement and fewer opportunities - because no one wants to be around him" (p.14)

"Ask yourself this question every day: 'What is it about me that other people would change if they could?'" (p. 15)

...because People Matter: SWITCH | Navigating Change with Chip Heath: Session 3

" People are often not ready for change. Consider...

• moving people into the first sky-scraper
• eating the first shrimp
• UGG boots in the middle of summer
  
  • But one change agent impacts another who impacts another who ... (you get the idea)
  • New norms are formed that redefine the "win" for the person or organization"
  "Do we see the win, the outcomes, as measurables that paint us as a success or do we see the win for what our people experience in their relationship with Jesus? How do we best help people move toward their God-designed, truest self?

This has been a great exercise! I am going into work with a relaxed, centered attitude.

This is a definite "rinse and repeat" activity.

I had to change the title a bit because the bullet point I ended my last post with was too long.  So, to refresh your memory:

Bullet Point #2: Change-agents are always seen as the enemy by those who prefer "but we've always done it that-a-way!"

(Note - excuse the continued italics - Vox is being lame tonight and won't let me convert the text back.  Gah!)

As most of you know, Rob was asked to come back to our church here to replace the departing Business Manager, bringing his corporate experience to help implement systems and processes as the church moves toward some big changes, such as a third service and multi-site ministry.  As many of you have also probably seen and learned, change of any kind, is often met with great resistance.  I knew that and had seen it before.

What I hadn't realized is that sometimes it is met with downright hostility.

Rob is a high capacity leader.  And not to toot my own horn, but I pretty much am one too.  High capacity at least.  And I like structure and processes, so helping Rob and executive pastoral team implement such has been great fun.  With one caveat.

Not everyone feels the same way as I do.  And that's caused a lot of stress over the past year.  For both of us.

And while I still have some things to learn about being a better listener and being careful how I say things, I've also learned that this is just part of the package.  The resistance I see and feel is not only normal, it's pretty typical and predictable.

Knowing that is half the battle.

~     ~     ~     ~     ~

Bullet Point #3: God gives us just what we need at just the right time.

This week I was asked to come up with a graphic to go along with the two-week message series my boss is starting on Sunday.  We talked about the theme - Expectations - and what he would be trying to communicate.  This is what I came up with:

Expectations Idea

1 comment

The background came from www.powerpointsermons.com.  Then I added the text and title.

It's not fancy, but I think (hope!) it gets the message across.  And my boss loved it, so yay for me.

Okay, so I couldn't think of a creative way to title an entry that will likely be all over the place since I haven't written much about the happenings in the life of Nicole in a while.  Most of my recent brain power has been used gathering, sorting, revising, and composing policies and procedures for work.  Rip-roaring stuff, I know.  But the crazy part is, I actually don't mind doing that kind of stuff.  And I got to work from home for two days.  With Rob. 

Rinse and repeat one day next week as well.

What would likely make others feel as if someone was slowly pulling off their toe nails one by one actually energizes me.  But it also saps all my mental energy by the end of the day, which means I got nothin' to give here.

So, in an effort to at least be somewhat organized and coherent in this post, I will give each section a nice generic heading and attempt to hit the bullet points.

Work

As aforementioned, I've been working on a project with Rob, revising the Policy and Procedure Manual.  Perhaps that should be creating, as they have never actually had a church-wide P&P manual.  What they have had is a bunch of policies and memos in various places.  Our job has been to grab those, figure out what's missing and write those, then bring them all together in an organized fashion, create one succinct manual, and then a few "for public consumption" guides that will be accessible to the volunteers.

It is a lot of work, to be sure, but as it is work I enjoy, it made the two days spent on such fly by.  Tuesday we will have another go at it (yay to working at home again!), and hopefully at least have the employee handbook portion ready for the Lead and Executive Pastors to review.

There are also some upcoming organizational changes that I am not at liberty to discuss yet, but if things go as I hope, I am very excited.  The shifts should better utilize folks' strengths and giftedness, including yours truly.

Home

Rob finished his first grad school class last week (with an A!), and the next one doesn't start until mid-June, so the plan is to work on a few projects around the house during the lull.  We are having new windows put in on the addition, and we took the cover off the pool yesterday.  For the latter to be ready, we still need to add more water, shock, and vacuum it.  But the yay factor is that what water is still in it (had to lower it about a foot to put the cover on) is clear. 

I'd also like to get some of the painting projects done, such as finishing the study and our bedroom.  We added a pet door out to the garage a few weeks ago, which allowed us to move the cat boxes to said area (woohoo!), but we still need to finish organizing the space (we've given up on the idea of actually using it as a garage since it is quite narrow) and moving the bins from the screen porch into the garage and/or shed.  My wish at that point is a glider or chairs or a pair of rockers for the screen porch, but so far the spousal unit has simply rolled his eyes at me.

And then there is a project that is quite daunting to me because it is so not in my skill set: landscaping.

When the previous owners were getting the house ready for sale, they were also prepping it for rent - whatever came to pass first, they were going to run with.  This totally worked in our favor, allowing us to rent for a month while our house in DE sold.  The downside was that they prepped the house for long-term tenants - meaning not only did they paint every wall with semi-gloss (gross!), they also stripped the yard of anything that might be high maintenance - or any type of maintenance - save mowing, weed wacking, and edging.

We had a company come out and quote re-vamping the yard with lovely shrubs and perrenials, but I about fainted when I saw the cost. 

By the same token, Rob, nor I, have ever planted a shrub.  Nor have we ever really had an interest in doing such.

But I also hate the nakedness of our front yard.

This could provide some interesting blogging fodder in the weeks and months to come.

Kiddos

The school year is winding down to the final weeks, praise God!  I am quite frankly tired of nagging motivating the children to stay on top of their assignments.  The Daughter continues to struggle with her honors English class; however, we did see improvement last marking period and the teacher is working closely with her now, so if we can get her through it with a C, I will be quite pleased.

She took her SATs the first weekend of this month - not sure how long it takes to get those back.  She chose the four colleges to send them to - two local, one in western VA, and one in DE.  Her plan at this point is to take one of the two years of cosmetology training via the tech school (free!) next year, since she only has to take 4 academic classes to graduate.  This will also allow her to explore her interest in cosmetology at no cost - then if she does like it, she can pay for the second year of training.  Following that, she plans to use her cosmetology certification to help her through college - either business or pre-law.

The Middle has been doing quite well with his classes, so we allowed the reinstatement of xBox for one hour on school nights ("I've been getting all As and Bs for a while now, Mom!).  But alas, that was short lived, as his Science grade dropped to a C this week because he got a big fat goose egg on his homework ("I lost it...").

He continues to do quite well with his guitar playing - he picks up new songs quickly and easily.

The Youngest had his final strings concert of the year on Tuesday - I am amazed at how far these 5th graders have come this year.  He can't decide if he wants to stick with violin or switch to cello next year.  I am just happy he wants to continue with orchestra.

With some trepidation, I am not looking forward to next month when his best friend moves to TX.  These are the kinds of hurts that I wish we could shield our babies from!

The Cruise!

I am still spending an inordinant about of time reading cruise boards and reviews for our ship.  It officially moved to Baltimore a few weeks ago, and I have been eating up any and all info posted about the move and subsequent cruises.  Overall they have been positive, save some embarkation and debarkation issues, which will hopefully be resolved by the time our vacation is here (just over 100 days from now!).

I think I have decided on what excursions we will do.  I am leaning toward just going with the flow in Grand Turk, since they have a nice beach and cruise center with shops, Margaritaville, and a pool.  I know we can safely take a taxi out to the lighthouse for some photo ops as well.  And since Rob and I plan to purchase our own snorkeling equipment, the teens can give it a whirl in calmer, shallower waters within our view in prep for a snorkeling excursion later that week.

Next stop is supposed to be a private island in the Bahamas, so another beach day, which is fine by me!  The boys may do a sting ray excursion, but The Daughter and I have no interest in that, so we will stay behind and work on our tans.

In Nassau, I am hoping to book a snorkeling excursion with Stuart's Cove (if they would ever email me back!).  They have good reviews and go to 2-3 different sites.  And it's only a half day, which would allow us time to have lunch on the ship and then still go into town and shop a bit if we want.

Our final stop, Freeport, doesn't get a lot of positive reviews since you basically dock in an industrial area, so I plan to book a dolphin encounter.  We are all really excited about this excursion - I hope it lives up to our expectations.

I think that about covers it....for now.  I am going to post this before I accidentally delete it; I can always go back and fix the typos later, eh?

...you get caught in a freak rain squaw while getting the mail for the office.

Seriously, as I pulled the mail from the box, I could see the rain and wind, like so much ocean spray, moving down the road toward me.  Try as I might, I didn't make it inside in time.

The result?

I was soaked to the skin from head to toe.  The front of me only.  Seriously.  Dripping, sopping wet in the front.  Bone dry in the back.

This, of course, precipitated a trip home to change clothes and redo my hair (which is where I am now).

Hello, Monday.  Not so pleased to make your acquaintance.

I think a stop at Starbuck's for a frappucino may be in order...

There's been so much on my mind over the past week, but I haven't been able to get it out and onto the screen.  It's summer here, for all intents and purposes, though the calendar still gives us a week or so.  This is the first summer that I've worked consistently since - gosh, since marriage, save cleaning offices a few evenings a week back in Rob's college days.  Oh, and cleaning a friend's home in the early 90s down in Charleston. 

Maybe that's why I feel a bit discombobulated...not having the summer off to be with the kiddos.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, though.  The kids are at an age where they don't need me breathing down their throats every second.  It gives all of us a sense of independence.

And I enjoy my job, though honestly, it's a bit dull at times!  A good dull - none of the drama and stress attached to the previous workplace - but still - and there isn't a gentler way to say it - dull.  I've already mastered the routine, and most days I finish my administrative tasks within 2-3 of the scheduled 5 hours.  But I am there to answer the phone and greet guests also, so I don't feel too bad about the down times.

So, let's see...what have I missed...?

Vacation was lovely.  We spent two nights at the beach, and we had the most relaxing, laughter-filled time as a family that we've had in ages.  The final two nights were spent more inland, and we were able to hang out with some life-long friends, as well as some new ones.  Again, much laughter abounded. 

One of the best parts of the trip was being at our "home" church.  We get more hugs there than we do in a year or more at the church here!  The lead pastor is also a gifted speaker, so I am never bored, even if he tends to be long-winded.  And we were able to tour the facilities and see all the cool changes/additions/upgrades they've made in the last year or two.  It is such a vibrant place, and I still miss it, even after almost three years.

In other news, The Daughter got her permit last Thursday!  She has to drive at least 50 hours supervised over the next 6 months.  I've been letting her drive to and from work each day, and she's doing pretty well, though she has what I call the "wild ass turn tendency".  I had forgotten that it takes some time to coordinate the gas pedal and the steering wheel.

No whip lash yet, but we've come close a few times (heh).

I took that personality test that everyone's been taking, but true to my tend-to-be-Gemini (though I don't "believe" in horoscopes, sometimes I wonder about the "twin" thing when it comes to me), I couldn't quite decide between two different results: The Engaged Idealist or The Social Realist.  EI was the initial result.  But again, on at least two of the four questions, I could have equally chose either answer.  So, perhaps I am a mix of both.

I am going to have Rob read them both and tell me which is more accurate before I post any results.

Speaking of Rob, he's a bit anxious about work.  They've called in all the remote folks for an all-hands meeting on Monday.  The buzz is that the company is being sold (Liberty Media owns them now).  Not sure what that could mean, but I am sure that it will bring big changes in benefits and structure.

He's almost finished with his Associates Certificate in Project Management - that's a good thing, though Project Management Professional (PMP) certification would be better.  I hope that whatever changes are afoot don't include an end to the tuition benefit plan that's allowed him to take courses over the past year.  It'd be nice to get that PMP under his belt.

Let's see...what else...

I submitted a devotional article to Associated Content, but haven't heard anything yet.  I really don't expect any upfront payment.  And if that proves to be the case, I can still publish for page-view payments, which have been equating to a medium coffee a month at WaWa.

Better than a sharp stick in the eye, I suppose.

I think that about covers it!  I guess I had more to say than I thought, eh?

I haven't been receiving email notifications for comments, private messages, etc.  This has been the case for a day or two, maybe longer.

Has this been happening to anyone else?

I sent a note to feedback, but it is the weekend, so...

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else was experiencing this.