Where Are My Writing Utensils?!

Hello, friends!

When I started planting at Lincoln, one of the positive externalities of driving down to Jefferson City every week was that I got to carpool with my neighbor and friend Bob because he works down there too. The problem was that Bob needs to be at work by 8 (it used to be 7:30) so we have to leave CoMO by 7:15 to make it there on time. This isn't a problem from a waking up standpoint (most days) but for a campus missionary, there isn't a ton to do at 8 in the morning when it seems like you're the only one on campus. The system that I've worked out is that I drop off my friend, park on campus, and put the prayer box in front of the cafeteria before walking downtown to do work at a local coffee shop.

For the most part, this system has worked out really well. Since I've been doing proxe stations outside, I haven't had a ton of time to see folk in the caf. Still, every week I go collect the prayer requests in the box and it's always full. Students put in the normal college stuff for prayer. Some students want God to bless their studies. Others need help with finances. Other still have family who are sick or are in tough relationships. It's always a joy to see a box full of prayer requests and to be able to pray for the campus in more specific ways during our bible study.

HOWEVER, there is one part of the prayer box that I really don't like... I wish folk would stop stealing my writing utensils.

Pens, pencils, or whatever, when I drop off the prayer box at 8 in the morning, I usually put out 3-4 writing utensils. The prayer box isn't big enough for 3 to 4 people to put prayer requests in at the same time. It's just, I know that folk are going to take the writing utensils so I have to put extras there.

Look, I get it. Students need stuff to write with. I'm sure that at least part of the time, it's just a matter of students forgetting to put back whatever they were using. I'm not mad at the students. I'm not going to hunt down anyone and make them return my pens. I just wish they didn't always get taken.

It may seem silly but I have a theory. I think that folk take my pens because they rationalize that there are other pens so folk can still write prayer requests. No one wants to be the guy or gal who keeps other folk from writing prayer requests, so I can always count on one pen being there.

So, here's my plan to test my theory. Next week, I'm going to put out 8 pens and see how many of them are left at the end of the day. The week after that, I'm going to put out only 1 pen and see if it gets taken or is left. If in either case, exactly 1 pen is left over, I know that my theory is right.

These are the things that I think about sometimes... =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam