This past Tuesday marked my one-year anniversary (workiversary, if you will) as the Business Manager at Kerang Christian College. The delay in reflecting is indicative of the way my job works: I can have a goal, a task can be on a list. I’ll get to it eventually in good time, but it’ll be about three days after I intend to get to it as other things are bound to come up that require attention first.
I’ve been challenged, have felt defeated and frustrated, have felt the weight of my shortcomings more strongly than ever. At the same time, I’ve also been able to celebrate the rewards that come with hard work, the pride of learning something new, and the gratification of feeling equipped to do my job.
Here are some realizations I’ve had as I reflect on my first year.
10. Math is important. I wrote about this in a post where I thanked my teachers. Over the course of the year, it blew me away time and time again that I used skills, lessons, and practices from my own schooling from years before in my role every day. Everything we learn is for a reason and a purpose, even if we don’t use it right away.
9. Living in one place is a gift. While Steven and I are advocates for relocation, there really is no place like home. And while home is wherever I’m with Steven, it’s still nice to be in just one place. From this time last year until we moved to Kerang in July, I spent 100 hours on the train commuting from Ringwood East during the week. I moved from Ringwood East to the Slatters, from the Slatters to my friend, Bron’s in Kerang, and then from Bron’s to our unit within five months. Living in one place is a gift.
8. Being a servant leader means daily sacrifice. My servant towel from our Taylor University graduation hangs in our house on the bookshelf as a reminder for me and Steven to serve each other and those around us in our home. Similarly, in my office, I’ve spelled “Be a servant leader” on one of those cool letter boards (thanks, Mom). It serves as a daily reminder for me to think first how I can serve others. Oftentimes, it means that I’m fixing computers or running off to a meeting instead of checking things off of my own list. I had a harder time with feeling productive with this frequent occurrence during my first few months (and I’ll admit that it’s coming back around again) and I’d feel stressed or unaccomplished as I’m the type of person who operates by crossing things off of a list. But I’m daily learning to sacrifice the list for being in the moment to serve others.
7. It’s still all about the kids. Even though I’m not in the classroom, I love that what I do every day helps to keep our school open, operating, safe, and beautiful, and that it’s my job to find ways to get the tools, equipment, and facilities that teachers and students need. Because in the end, it’s all about the kids.
6. It’s also all about relationships. Another privilege of my job is that I’ve built relationships with staff and community members, along with contractors who I now call friends. I’ve learned so much about so many aspects of running a school–solar panels, amplifiers, sewer pits, pest control, gardening, sprinkler systems, operating leases, buying computers and setting them up, tech support, networks and backups. I’ve been able to learn from others who have extended patience to me this year as I’ve learned how to be a property manager, tech support person, HR manager, financial officer, payroll administrator, and many other things. Learning my new role among friends has made it all that much easier.
5. “There’s a conference just for you guys?” I wrote about my Business Manager’s Conference in Sydney in October and a friend of mine asked that question when I shared why I was in town. My role can feel really isolated a lot of the time as I’m the only business manager in the school. But I’ve never felt alone as the network of independent and Christian schools is truly incredible. I know I can pick up the phone and call any number of people at Independent Schools Victoria or any other business managers all over Australia and feel supported, heard, and validated.
4. I love working in the same place as Steven. Steven and I have always said that we wanted to work in the same school. We got a tiny taste of how great it could be when our second day of CRT work in Melbourne had us team teaching with Year 5 students. Our prayer was that Steven would get work at the School, but when I got the job last February, there was only CRT work available. We’ve been fortunate that since he has moved up here, the Lord has opened doors and full-time work has been available since we moved last July. I love walking by his classroom and hearing laughter, running into him on yard duty, and watching him interact with students. I’ve also appreciated those moments where we’ve been able to have “family meetings” and he’ll stop by to say hello and to check in. He always insists on taking minutes.
3. It’s a privilege to be in leadership. I’ve always been passionate about leadership and empowering my students to be leaders. I believe we’re all leaders in our own worlds whether we want to be or not–someone is always watching and following us. I’m continuing to learn how to be a leader in my everyday world in our School in Kerang, in my interactions with staff, students, parents, contractors, and other leaders. It’s been a continuous journey to learn how to be fully myself and to be continually refining myself with prayer and accountability and through being sharpened by those around me. While we all have different styles and approaches, I appreciate the team of leaders with whom I work and feel that the Lord has called us all together for a shared purpose.
2. I knew the learning curve would be steep but it’s different than I thought. In my interview, one of the last things that was asked was something to the effect of what concerns I had. I said that I knew I would work as hard as I needed to in order to get the job done. And I knew the learning curve would be steep. But I just wanted to live up to my principal’s expectations and the Board’s expectations. My own prophecy was fulfilled–the learning curve is rougher and more steep than I ever anticipated. But it’s different than I thought. As I enter into my second year, I’m finding that it’s not just one incline on one mountain–it’s laps around a mountain with a constant incline. The learning won’t stop just because I’m finished with my first year, and if the first few weeks of this school year have been any indication, I’m in for another steep climb this year.
1. We’re here for a reason. When we moved to Australia a little over a year and a half ago, I would have never anticipated that we’d be living in a town of 4,000, that we’d be working at the school where Steven taught seven years ago, and that I’d be the Business Manager–not a teacher–in that school. I remember having a hard time in the first few months after moving to Australia thinking, “Ok, Lord. You’ve brought us to Australia. Now what?” And there were about four months of asking that question. We didn’t know if we’d be able to stay, to pay for my visa if our income was only going to come from casual work. We were in a bit of denial about moving out of Melbourne, especially into the middle of nowhere. But we’re here for a reason, and the Lord has a purpose for us in Kerang. We’re seeing it in glimpses, particularly through relationships and situations.
When we were in the States in December, a friend asked me over breakfast what mine and Steven’s thing is as a couple. Do we watch movies? Take walks? Cook together? To respond to those options, Steven only really likes action movies, and I don’t always like them. I like air conditioning and yoga so we don’t really take walks. I love cooking and Steven admits that I’m better at it and stays out.
I reflected a bit on our time, and we spend a lot of it together as we just enjoy being home. But most of our time is spent with others. Much of our time is at School, many of our evenings are with friends, and most of our weekends include one of us going out for a walk or a bike ride with a friend or heading off to a birthday or engagement party together. In all of that, what Steven and I have realized is that the thing we do as a couple is ministry. We share a heart for those around us, and that’s the reason we have been called here.
I realize we’ve been a bit radio-silent the past few months. We got back from the States mid-January, spent three days at the beach, and then I started work on 14th January and have barely come up for air since. I developed a head cold as we drove back to Kerang from the beach, so not only was I trying to get back into my role, I was doing it feeling so terrible. It also happened to be around 40-47 degrees Celsius (104-116 degrees Fahrenheit) for those few weeks, so we had our mattress in our lounge since that’s where our air con unit is. Those few weeks took me back to when I returned home from visiting Steven in 2012, so sick and so sad having left someone I love but all of a sudden having to be back in my life. Our trip home to the States was good in so many ways and hard in so many ways, putting us face to face with the lives we’ve moved away from. It’s really the first time I’ve ever returned to a place where I once lived, that there are now restaurants I used to go to with these people or places that were my favorite. And we realized with family and friends that there’s never enough time, so instead of saying goodbye we would instead say, “See you soon” and hope that we get to do just that.
As sad as leaving family and friends behind again was, we were ready to make our way back to the place we now call home and return to life in our little town in our little unit and to return to work in our little school.
Fords Gone Walkabout 