Describe scary: I am in charge of leading 31 people, including 12 middle/high schoolers, on a trip that involves driving from Cincinnati to Columbus, boarding a plane New York, then taking the subway 90 minutes to our intended destination. Oh yeah, and I can't lose any of them along the way. (Acceptable losses include whiny children, whiny adults, and people who just irritate me.)
Ok, I guess it's not that scary. I mean most of these people are adults or belong to adults who will be there. You would think most of them have travel experience. And I think of a few of them have even flown before! That's not fair - I don't really know how many have flown before. But can you see where it's a little daunting? I don't think it's the actual flying/subway ride that's scary, I think it's the number of people. 31. Half of the places I worked didn't have 31 employees!
Did I mention it's a missions trip? Yeah, doing the Lord's work. So there's no real reason to complain, I suppose. He (that's God) has gotten me through plenty of tough situations before - no reason He would fail me now. I think once we get there, it will be a great trip though. Admittedly, ministering to children is way easier than ministering to adults - and most of this trip will be interacting with children. Why is that? Why is it easier to tell children about God than it is to tell adults? Am I afraid the adult will think I'm stupid? Wouldn't be the first time. Am I afraid they will laugh. Been laughed at. Am I afraid they will hit me? That's just silly. So what is it? I think it really is that I am afraid of what people will think of me. Weren't we taught in 3rd or 4th grade to not care what other people think? So why do we? Why do we need everyone to like us? Or at least think we aren't nuts?
Back to the trip - I think harder than actually going on the trip is planning it. I have to worry about gathering all the money, making the plane reservations, getting transportation to the airport, making sure people pack light, but not too light, calling everybody when something changes....It's just tiring. Some have suggested that I delegate some of those tasks, but then instead of worrying about the actual task, I worry about the person I assigned it to. At least this way I have some semblance of control.
Well, if you got this far, you are a brave soul. Or just bored. If I could type as fast as mind races, this thing would have been about 20 times as long. Good for you then, I guess.
Til next time - Ramble On...
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You're a better man than I am for taking on this task. I know, I know. You're thinking, but Tim, you are a people person...surely you would be wonderful at this type of thing, but you would be wrong. Which is why I'm not called to do things like you do, Ben! You're called to do things like this because you're good with people, responsible and you get things done properly. And because people respect you and know that it'll all get done the best way possible. (Sorry if I've guilted you into redoing some things you did a half-axe job on.)
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