Out Of My Element, BIGTIME!

I’m not a secretary! Not even in the pretend world. I stink! One summer my husband needed a secretary at the church. He thought that I’d be a great fill-in and the extra money in our pocket would surely be a fun bonus. Hmmm! No, to both of those ideas! I hated it! I quit almost everyday of the 2 months that I worked there. He was no fun to work for. Plus, I hated the whole idea of office work. Misery, folks!

First problem? I had kids at home from school (at this time they were about 3rd, 5th & 7th grade) just babies as you might agree. I felt so torn to be there and take care of them. The office hours were just mornings, but I’m not a morning person. So my arrival time was a problem for the boss, my husband. I would get to the office around 9:30ish (ideally he would have preferred 8-8:30ish). What Ev! This was a frustration for him and for me. I really needed to handle the house and kids before I could traipse off to some “fill-in” secretary job. I was difficult, I suppose! But my priorities were my kids.

Second problem? Our beloved labrador, Maggie had delivered 8 PUPPIES!!!! Do you know how big lab pups are? They are huge! She was a busy mama and the work from these creatures was FULL TIME! We had puppy jobs ALL day long. Every day that summer! Do you know how much poop 8 puppies poop? I had NO free time to do anything else! But, there I was, at church working in a secretary job for a few bucks. Ridiculous! I was so torn! I couldn’t concentrate at all while I was at the church.

On top of all those problems, was the simple fact that I’m not designed for that type of work. I’m not a computer guru and every single thing I had to do there…….was on the computer. I had to ask the boss questions about every single thing. Oh, and did I mention how busy he was? Yea, he was constantly busy. So many people want to talk to the pastor…..every time I needed him…someone was in there. Dang! It was crazy frustrating! Then when he gave me something to type up, I would want to change it completely. Inevitably, it would not make sense. I felt like I was always finding mistakes or making changes that he didn’t want. I was not the right person for the job. Period.

Today, I had to fill-in as a secretary for one of my principals. Oh yea, it was eventful! It happened to be incredibly busy in there, of course! His regular secretary had surgery and wouldn’t be able to return until next Tuesday. I hobbled along, faking every duty as I went. It seems nothing catastrophic happened under my service…but those old memories came back. I am at peace with my calling in life. I’m a rock in a classroom! Bring on a lesson plan…..and some kids to teach. I can do it! I love teaching! Tomorrow, I’ll be going back in to help him again. The one good thing about it, TGIF! I’ll be wearing my game face and taking on each challenge as if……God himself asked me to do it. I’ll work like it is my privilege to be there. Isn’t that what God expects of us? He expects excellence! I want to be that! Sometimes, we have to step out of our element to grow. I’m willing! Are you?

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