Then There Were Four

I got the title. I am assuming this post is going to be about the goings on at work. I know they are microcosmic of the battle against the religious spirit in the area, but I do not seem to have a lot of clarity on the exact correlation just yet. Then again, it was my wife who pointed out the concept that there is a correlation. Sometimes that happens. What can I say?


We were trying to run a 24/7/365 residential program with 4 full time and 2 part time employees. That was barely doable except that one of the full timers was recalcitrant about the shift he had to work. I do mean he had to work it. His full time position required it. He continually worked and manipulated different hours until we really could not make the scheduling work. When he was finally confronted about that, we were shortly thereafter down to 5 people. Oh, I did not mention we did have an intern who was picking up something like 20 hours a week. He came to a meeting out of his mind one day. He tested positive for methamphetamine and that was that.


We hardly felt the loss of the full time employee. In fact when we divided up his hours we only came up with about 20 hours of actual work that he had been putting in each week. Of course yours truly sucked up about 8 of those hours in additional teaching time. No big deal. I teach. That is what I do. Some of the paperwork just does not get done now.


That went on for about a month I guess and one of the part time employees got to his last straw with the way things were being run. He left abruptly. That caused a major reshuffling of hours and duties. We were and are down to 3 full time and 1 part time employee. Of course the part timer is working pretty much full time hours. That means we often have only one staff member on duty at a time and we still are not there all the time the alarms are offline. That bothers me, but it is not my responsibility.


In fact, I am not entirely sure what my responsibilities are anymore anyway. I suppose because he is being replaced, the director seems reluctant to make any kind of decision. I will not make any because I know things are going to change soon and it seems like a waste to change them twice. We are kind of floundering at the mission for the time being.

BREAKING NEWS...since I started to write this blog, our part time employee was terminated. Thankfully, we were blessed with an intern to fill in until something more permanent can be done. He is there for the weekend anyway. Since he cannot drive the company vehicles, I still had to work 14 hours on Friday, but at least I get the weekend off. Wait, you get more. Get ready for this.

A week ago Friday a woman walked into my office unannounced. She was getting acquainted with the community and turned the corner in front of the mission. She thought she would check us out. She is retired from the state prison system. She worked the last few years of her career as a substance abuse counselor in a men's prison. Now she needs something to do other than yard work in her small yard so she would like to volunteer, or possibly even work part time at the mission. A God thing you think? I am not done. The following Tuesday a gentleman got out of his car and came walking up to the mission. I was the only staff member on duty so he was ushered up to my office. He is new in town and is looking for a part time job. Oh, did I mention he is a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor? His certification is from the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors. Whatever is really going on is bigger than I. Assuming God did send them both in, that is a refreshing change from business as usual.

I guess I had better finish this post before something else major changes. I am reminded of Shakesphere's quote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." I'm doing my best to act out my part, but sometimes it seems as though I am simply watching the play transpire and recording the happenings for you here. I know we are getting to something, and probably something BIG. I am just not sure what it is. If you have any ideas, I am open. Love you all. God bless.