Margins...

Hello, friends!

I know that I have been talking about my crazy travel schedule and such for a few weeks now.  I am still getting used to it.  In fact, today is one of the rare 12 hour CoMO days.  I drove in this morning and will be heading back to Saint Louis tonight for staff meetings tomorrow.  The Rolla is definitely getting a good run.  =0).

One of the things that I have been learning as how to cope with all this craziness is to create margin.  What is margin?  Pretty much, it is me allotting time for things to take longer and go wrong.  Doing so has actually made my life a little bit more manageable. 

Let me give you an example.  On Tuesdays, I have meetings with Jordan, Charis, Tim, and the ACF Leaders.  The most efficient thing would be for me to stack them one on top of the other, going rapid fire through all the meetings in order to have the largest block of free time at the end of the day.  But, instead, I spaced them out a bit.  I meet with Jordan @ 2, Charis @ 4, Tim @ 6, and the leaders @ 9.  What I love about this is that it gives me freedom to let the Spirit move as He does. 

Sometimes these meetings take longer than anticipated.  When they do, I have the margin to let those conversations go, knowing that I have time until my next appointment.  Other times, they run exactly as planned and I get a little bit of time to decompress and prepare for the next meeting.  Sometimes, things even take shorter than anticipated.  In those instances, I can start my next meeting early, get some extended time to decompress, or even get a little bit of time to get some other work done. 

What I love best about this is that when I am more calm and not totally flustered going into a meeting, it allows me to better serve students.  Time to decompress after the previous meeting means that I will not be taking my thoughts and emotions from that meeting into my next meeting.  That leads to better meetings and more time to hear from the Spirit. 

Admittedly, it isn't the most efficient thing to do from a day to day standpoint.  Sometimes I will have 10 or 15 minutes between meetings, which isn't quite enough to do anything well.  But, even in these times I trust that Jesus knows what is good for me.  I must need those 15 minutes.   

Prayer Points: There's just one prayer request for me.  Right now, until I move into my new apartment (after the wedding), I am sleeping on couches.  It's just 18 days until I get a wonderful bed (as well as an incredible wife!) but until then, my back is starting to feel it.  Please pray for healing and comfort in the midst of sleep. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam