Staff Level Stuff...

Hello, friends! 

A few days ago I had a meeting with two ACF leaders.  One is a volunteer staff who is considering going on full time and the other is a rising 5th year who is considering potentially an internship or something with InterVarsity.  I gathered us together so that we could start to plan for the fall semester together.

One of the things that a supervisor once told me that I am trying to learn to do more and more is to never do anything alone.  Staff work is just better when you are teaching others to think like you think and giving them a reason as to why you do what you do.  That is how students turn into staff.  I figured that now was as good a time as any to get these potential staff to be thinking about how to think like a staff when it comes to prepping a semester. 

My previous supervisor gave me a pretty detailed planning worksheet to use during semester planning.  It starts with an assessment of the previous semester, moves into big picture stuff, and then gets more down into the nitty gritty details of the actual day-to-day actions.  It's been super helpful to me, so I sent it along to the two ACF folk to look over and then we would go through it together. 

Here's what I learned: this is legit staff level stuff and it is hard to think like a staff.  The leaders did great.  They had great insight, good thoughts on goals, and an understanding of where the ACF is and where it needs to go.  But, I could tell that it was taxing for them.  We actually skipped the last section of our meeting because I could tell that brains were beginning to fry and that eyes were starting to glaze.

Understand that this isn't an indictment of the two who were with me.  They did an EXCELLENT job given their experience level and such.  I think this is more a reflection of the realization that I have actually grown as a staff in my 5+ years working for InterVarsity.  I had my year end review a few weeks ago, and while the year didn't go as well as I had hoped, one thing my supervisor said is that it was obvious that I'd grown as a staff this year, if nothing else, than in my ability to reflect and process. 

About 2 years ago I came to the realization that if I was going to stick with this job, it was going to require me to grow.  The first 3 years on the job, my job consisted of gathering students and casting vision, two things that I knew how to do and could do in my sleep.  As ACF grew, the job became more complex and I found that my natural abilities weren't going to yield the preferred results.  The fellowship was growing and I had to grow along with it.  It looks like there's been some progress.  I don't mind that.  =0). 

Prayer Points:
- These are the dog days of summer, which mean that students taking summer courses are gearing up for finals.  Please be praying for our ACFers as they enter a new level of potential stress. 
- Friends, it is HOT here.  Today's high will be around 103.  Please be praying a prayer of protection over those who do not have the means to stay cool, especially the elderly and the poor. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam