We are a little short staffed today...when I say a little, I mean over half of our employees are either sick or traveling today. Everyone who is actually working today has to do a little bit more: answering phones, cleaning up trash and the like. I, for example, am working the front desk tonight and cooking dinner in the cafe tomorrow.
The Front Desk is affectionately referred to as the Fish Bowl. It is a small room filled with snacks, toys and paperwork with windows on over half the wall space. It is the job in Joel's Place that it is easiest to waste time in and get away with it. There are a number of projects to work on in the Fish Bowl, but it is a job that is based on interruption. You answer the phone, you check in guests when they arrive, sell snacks, check out gaming equipment and talk to kids who are just wanting to hang out. I had to stop writing this paragraph 4 times in order to get something for someone. It is a guarantee that as soon as you start a project, you will be interrupted.
I hate being interrupted. I would rather wait until the building is empty and stay late to write a proposal than have to stop and resume the project multiple times. I just get grumpy because I have important work to do and teenage boys can't figure out whether they want a Hershey's bar with almonds or plain. Drives me crazy. Or they want to talk about their football injuries or their cell phone plan or their cars...good Lord, the amount of my life I have spent listening to stories about teenage boys' cars. Did I mention that I have important work that I have to get done? It is easy for me to get upset that I am wasting my time...
Then I remind myself to take a step back.
Way back.
(FYI, I was just interrupted 5 times trying to get to this next paragraph)
I remember that youth are not the interruptions in my job, they are the reason for my job. All of the paperwork and grants and reports and fundraising and staff evaluations and balance sheets...all of it is for the express purpose of giving these young men and women a place where they belong and can be built up instead of torn down. I remember that mentoring young people involves a lot of pure, dumb time. Time spent listening or eating or laughing or skating. Time where trust is built and opportunities for sharing are invited, not required. Time where my character is visible and the youth decide whether I am worthy of their investment. This is the real work of Joel's Place. It is the work that looks the simplest yet carries the most significance. It is the reason that I need staff of high character, deep patience, authentic joy and great faith. I do all my work so that they are freed up to do theirs.
When I spend all my time up in my office or going out to fundraise, this is an easy reality to forget. So I occasionally sit at the front desk. And I get interrupted. And I find that the pure, dumb time of building the kingdom of God also builds my heart little by little.
Tomorrow comes the kitchen...but that's a different story.
No comments:
Post a Comment