Once again, I haven’t posted in a while. I now have a very good excuse. Fatigue and morning sickness have kept me from doing much of anything. I have been granted Sundays as been pretty sickness and fatigue free but the rest of the week is a battle. I just start to feel better and it comes back. I caught the cold virus that has been circulating through our church and was passed on to me through my children and now that it is over, morning sickness has returned. So, I must look on the bright side. Housework is out! YAY! (Sorry dear.) There is nothing on my plate for Awana at the moment. Our latest shipment arrived yesterday before our meeting which I promptly sorted through and handed out what needed to be given to the leaders that evening. So, what should I do with my time on the couch? I must use it productively. I can only play Freecell and Solitaire for so long before I feel like there is something more I could be doing.

Today I decided to start looking at the cities we are going to be visiting in March. Last year, I contacted Medicine Hat and told them how I liked their online brochure and would like a hard copy of it. They sent me a huge packet containing more than just the brochure that I requested. It was an overwhelming packet containing their leisure guide, maps, tourism info, their census, utilities info…. the list goes on.

First on my list today was Lethbridge. They have a site called Choose Lethbridge. So much of the information on the site was spread out and I am one of those people that likes information in a compiled form, such as a brochure where it is all neatly organized. They were good enough to put their email address on their site so I dropped them (The Department of Economic Development) a little note asking if they had the information in a pdf or hard copy. Within an hour I had a reply saying that they were rewriting the information but yes they had it in a pdf which they provided the link for and could give me a hard copy if I would like. So, I wrote back and stated I would love to get a hard copy and there are other families who may consider moving with us and I would appreciate if they could let us know when the revised edition is out. I received a reply that they will send out the material today and will send several copies rather than just one. Very nice!

Now I am on to checking out the other cities on our list to see what information I can dig up and what resources I might be able to have sent my way. It would be nice to be armed with as much information as possible prior to our scouting trip in March.

The good news: another major shipment of Awana gear arrived yesterday.  It’s been tough trying to ad hoc things while we wait for all the delayed materials to arrive.  Still, in some ways it’s just in time as we had a recognition ceremony at the end of the last club meeting, giving prizes to kids who finished their introductory booklets.  Now this week we will be able to give them their jersey/vest and their handbooks.  And they are nice.  I am quite impressed.

The bad news is there is a big children’s ministry conference going on today put on by Awana, but open to anyone who is in children’s ministry.  I had hoped to have as many people as possible go, but I learned this week that it takes repeated communication to ensure that people remember upcoming events.  When we were first launching the clubs I talked about how great these seminars would be and recommended that we get everyone coming, but for some reason it slipped under everyone’s radar and by the time I came out to confirm attendance, nobody had any idea what I was talking about.  Lesson learned – communication must be regular and complete.

It turns out that even I could not make the training today though.  As much as I wanted to go, I can’t as I am now at work, dealing with a financial pinch.  The general consensus is that our faith is being tested a bit, to see how much we really trust God to take care of us.  Given the realities of our situation, I am certain that without God I would be an emotional mess, but he has been sustaining me, no question.  At the same time, I am seriously exploring other employment options, so pray with us that God would either sustain us through these slow months at my current job or provide a new job for me.

In either case, that’s one more thing to heap on the plate.  Whew.

I have always known there isn’t enough time in a day to accomplish what needs to be done or enough days in a week or weeks in a month. I look at my to do list and feel like it is doing me rather than me doing it, if that makes any sense.

My kids take up the bulk of my time. Having four boys, one being 5 months old, means I am constantly answering questions, containing mess, breaking up fights, feeding, and of course changing. Then there is laundry, meals, and just general up keep.

I’m studying for my Masters degree in Nursing so I have reading and writing I have to do. My course is online which means all my classmate interaction is done through forums, which means more reading and writing on top of course assignments.

Then there are my church commitments and this is where I am trying to figure out my priorities. We lead a small group (now on Summer break, but we need to keep up relationships with those who will still be with us in the Fall – and with those we had before just cause we like them), budgeting for Awana, write a classified ad for Awana (Shane worked on it last night but I had to give my two cents which still takes time), hold meetings, and of course build individual relationships with those on our team. How do I fit it all in? I’m really struggling as I’m feeling drained as a mom, drained as a student, and I don’t want to be drained as a servant as well…. I do and I don’t. I want to protect myself from burn out while at the same time serve fully.

At least I know, when the time comes for us to plant a church my degree will be finished and my children will be a little older which means I won’t have to shake a rattle in one hand while typing on the keyboard with the other.

On thing that taking on this Awana ministry has taught me is the use of a calendar.    Many times before I thought I was busy enough for using a calendar, but it always tailed off.  Now that I have to look months ahead, I have had to get much more dedicated to the use of a calendar.

Even with this upcoming week, I was talking with my wife about all the things we have to get done.  These are just the ones that I know about:

• set up a meeting with two of our leaders (mentees) to take over Awana in a year or two
• set up a meeting with a work friend facing some home issues
• set aside time to call a interviewee for my paper
• contact several more potential interviewees again
• decide on a place to go for a quick weekend retreat with my darling wife
• send out a meeting schedule to all Awana leaders and potential leaders
• touch base individually with each potential Awana leader to get their feedback on what role they would like
• confirm that role with above and get them info on what they can begin to do to prepare themselves for their role

I know my wife has her own list, including:

• go shopping with or without her sister who’s visiting us for a couple weeks
• reconnect with a friend of hers who she hasn’t seen in a couple months
• get laundry caught up
• probably more powerwashing, now that we have one (though that may be my job)
• write 5 poems for her course, plus who knows how many other books she has yet to read

I am sure there is much more on her list than I have mentioned, as I am sure she will remind me.  But the point is with so many bullet points and only 5 days in a week, we are in for a bit of a pressure cooker this week.