Six Months In...

I planned to give you a tour of our winter decor today, because I finally have the house all gussied up, as they say, but alas, we had a very busy Sunday and I was never in our apartment during daylight hours to take the photos! So I'll take those pictures today and come back tomorrow with that tour. Meanwhile, I'll share with you the thoughts I intended to post about tomorrow! 

Believe it or not, this week marks six months since we came to WillowBridge. In some ways it seems like we've been here a hundred years longer than that, and in other ways, it seems like we just rolled into Grabill for the first time earlier this very week. 

But in honor of our six month workiversary, I thought I would share some thoughts on these past six months.

First, let's talk about the things that have gone just about the way we thought they would:

* We love working together every bit as much as we thought we would. This has been a marriage-long dream of ours, and it has not disappointed. We love being on the same team and every time Ryan asks me if I'm tired of looking at him, I say no. He reminds me I've been with him every day since July third, and I remind him that these have been my most favorite days ever. (Ryan also adds that it's the best to have your ACTUAL wife as your work wife.) 

And that concludes that portion of our review. Ha! It's not that the rest of the job has been a disappointment. It's just that there were so many things (most things, actually) that we had no expectations for in any direction, so most everything was a surprise! Here are the rest of the things we've noticed:

* We love our tenants more than we ever expected to. This doesn't mean that we never disagree with them or never have to have hard conversations with them. It doesn't mean life here is always easy. But it does mean that we have come to think of them as our kids (because we really are old enough to be their parents, even though we don't like to think about it) and we will fight for them and advocate for them with all our hearts. We miss them when we are gone, laugh heartily at their wit, and pray fiercely for God to lead and guide their decisions.

* The days are fuller than we ever could have imagined - and truthfully, we imagined they'd be pretty full. Though we're learning to draw boundary lines and stick to them when it comes to protecting our time, we are also aware that this is the kind of job where if you're needed, you're needed. Work days often run from before 8 a.m. to after midnight. We've gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to tend to issues, we've gotten up early and stayed up late to be present, we've sat in on gut-wrenchingly hard meetings, and we've worked solo for as long as ten days.

* Other duties as assigned takes on a whole new meaning here. Our jobs are defined in a nice little one- page description, but we've done a hundred other things, including but not limited to: assembling a toddler bed, extracting broken ear buds from deep within the ear, changing impressively foul diapers, making practice tests for the learner's permit, searching a river bed for a lost cell phone, doing photo shoots, monitoring tenants and guests during a surprise tornado warning, PTA work (which never goes away), financial aid counseling (which also never goes away), and even doing a little chaperoning now and then...just like junior high youth group. ;)

* We've attended more meetings in six months than we have in the rest of our careers combined. There are so many meetings and so many training sessions here! I seriously have never had another job with the number of them we've gone to in this short time!

* No matter how much training we have, there are some things you simply can't train for. Every single day is on-the-job training, and we learn most of our skills in the field in real time. There are no drills. 

* Watching our tenants succeed in their goals is one of the best feelings in life. We've had the opportunity to have a front row seat to some pretty amazing things, and those victories go a long way in sustaining us when we have a stretch of days that make us wonder if we're doing anything right. It's an equally exhilarating feeling to hear one of them acknowledge out loud that they appreciate what we do.

* Our work is far more about planting and watering seeds than it is about seeing a harvest. If we define our worth by a harvest, we're going to be disappointed. Our job is to show up every day, all day, and plant and water until we run out of seeds and the well runs dry. Though we love to see fruit, we have to know that we may never see that harvest. But we are called to be faithful with the planting and watering.  

* We are learning in brand new ways to do our very best to show love at all times, even when we may not feel like it. Our tenants have lived through experiences we don't even know and probably wouldn't be able to fathom if we did know about them. Their past marks their reactions to their present, just like our pasts mark our reactions to our present. They depend on us to be consistent and even-keeled in our responses in order to understand that we are genuine. God depends on us to be a consistent representative of His love, regardless of circumstances or our feelings. 

* This job has taught us marital teamwork like no other experience we've ever had. Ryan and I are usually easily on the same page with most things in life, but there have been times in this job where we don't see eye to eye. It hasn't undone us. I would say it has made us (and is making us) stronger. We are learning to hear opinions from opposite sides of thinking and find a way to work together for the best good, even if we don't agree. We have learned (and will continue to hone) a whole new rhythm of carrying out tasks while we are on duty. The days we work alone are long, since we don't have anyone to share the load with, but we have found that we work quite well together on those days, carrying the yoke and serving in tandem. 

There are also some things we're learning individually. 

Bekah: I'm learning courage like I've never known before. I'm not fond of conflict and though my role here often leans toward building peacemaker and mediator, I have had to learn to be firm, say difficult and unpopular things, and enforce rules even when it makes tenants upset with me. I still have MUCH learning to do in this department, but I've come a long way in six months. 

I've also learned to be much more courageous in standing for my convictions, even if I stand alone. I remember one meeting in particular where a consensus was taken, and I stood completely alone in my opinion. None of the rest of our team agreed with me...not even Ryan. In fact, even our boss didn't see it my way. Bekah of yore would have easily yielded to the majority, but that day I stood firm. I told all of them - even Rob - that I knew no one understood why I was so passionate about my point, but I believed in it strongly enough to die on that hill. I respected everyone else's different viewpoint and was not angry that the decision would follow that path, but I felt it necessary to stand firm in my thoughts. I told Ryan later that I wasn't even upset at the outcome of the meeting. I was grateful I had the courage to stand alone, because that was brand new for me. 

Ryan: I've had many jobs in my life, but this one has stretched me in ways I couldn't have imagined until I lived through it. This job is the least physically demanding job I've ever had, and yet I'm completely exhausted when I go to bed every night. 

The job has also challenged (in a good way) my listening skills. I'm finding that our tenants have spent much of their lives being told what to do without anyone really listening to them. I am striving to do my very best to listen well, really hear what they have to say - and then give advice that will hopefully steer them in the right direction, even if they don't always choose to implement it. 

So those are our thoughts and observations six months into this job. We are still glad God brought us here and we are grateful He is growing and changing us even while we are trying to be a Christlike example to those we serve!