First of all, thank you all so much for all of the love and support that I've received regarding my incoming new role as Director for the Asian American Ministries Pilot Project. I have been overwhelmed by the congratulations from everyone. I'm really looking forward to the taking on this new role come January.
Normally, I post on Thursdays but, you'll notice, it's Friday. I had to take a little bit of a rest day yesterday because we got back from our Regional Staff Conference (RSC16) Thursday morning and I needed some time to recoup after 3 days of being in full on conference mode.
As always, RSC was a great time. I did notice though, that while there are some things that I can count on, things still also change from year to year. Here are a few of my epiphanies from 72 hours of staff conference goodness on what's changed:
- I've officially transitioned from "young staff" to "veteran staff." The move was probably a long time coming but I really felt it this year. There are two ways you can tell if you've moved from "young staff" to "veteran staff" status. The first is how you spend your free time, including meals. If it's spent at the pool, playing games, or things like that, you're probably "young staff." If it's spent in a meeting, you're a veteran. The other way to tell is how you spend your 10pm. If you spend your 10pm around other staff, hanging out, playing games, and otherwise having a good time, you're probably a "young staff." On the other hand, if you spend your 10pm asleep or getting ready for sleep, you're probably a veteran.
- Having a kid on site is hard work! Last year, we had Ezra with us but he was barely 6 months old. He didn't really do a whole lot besides sleep and poop so watching him was pretty easy. This year, Ezra was eating solid food, only taking one nap a day, and practically running down the hall every chance he got. I think that Meg and I worked pretty well together in making sure that we both were able to be somewhat present while still keeping an eye on him but it was definitely more of a struggle than last year. It also didn't help that Ezra had a bit of a cold so we couldn't utilize childcare like we wanted.
- The room looks different from before. Every year, at RSC, I look around and notice a few more faces are not there that I'm used to seeing. Staff move away or go off staff. It's a normal part of the job. Since 2008 or so, we've been focused on our "2020 vision" for the area. At ever RSC since then, we've done a status report that included a photo of our staff team from when we launched the vision. Every year, there are fewer and fewer of us in the room who where part of that original photo. It's a little bittersweet, even though I know that everyone no longer in the room is still doing good work for the kingdom in one capacity or another.
Still, with all the changes, there are still things that I can count on during RSC. I can count on great conversations with staff friends who know what I do and have been through similar experiences. I can count on a great vision being cast for our Region and being charged up and ready to take on the upcoming semester. I can count on RSC feeling like a great bookend to an eventful semester. I can count on Jesus showing up and speaking to me in profound ways. I can count on showing up and it still feeling like home and familia. For all the changes that each RSC brings, I'll take those constants any day of the week.
Next week there may or may not be a post by me. I'll be in SoDak for Christmas with Meg's family, so I may take the week off. In case I do, Merry Christmas, and, as always...
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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