In Eckleburg's Eyes - 11/13/2008, Part 1

My Wednesday was very atypical as my night class was cancelled. My professor, RGB, was attending the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Conference (AACE) conference in Denver, Colorado.

I spent the morning at church pitching my educational concepts to TWC and GWS. The latter was a surprise. TWC was highly supportive and advised me to meet with GWS. I went to his office in hopes of setting up an appointment and he graciously spent a great deal of time with me. GWS was objective as always, critical when necessary, and treated me very fairly. He determined that my proposal was an avenue worth pursuing further. He was explicit that he was neither being optimistic nor negative about my prospects. Our meeting concluded in prayer.

He advised me to create a job description and provided me a sample document to model. He also suggested I breakdown my time spent, which is critical in a job that is a conglomerate of other positions. My next meeting will be with TWC, who will edit the document to his specifications. Afterwards, we will present the concept to LWF. If LWF feels the proposal is worthwhile, I will then address the administrative staff where my proposal will be dissected and reassembled (as it should be). If they approve (and that is a big “if”), the idea will go before the finance committee. A new committee is slated to be elected this Sunday (November 16th). And I thought it was hard to navigate through UT’s chain of command!

In all seriousness, I could not have been treated any more fairly than I was with both ministers giving more of their time than I merited. The most difficult obstacles will be pitching a new position as opposed to an established one (which comes with the territory) and convincing my audience that my skills are needed. The church is also preparing to enter a transition phase and a long-term commitment may not be possible.

I did learn two pieces of bad news while at the church. Dr. Henry Chiles (HMC), our (genuinely) saintly former pastor, was convalescing at the UT Medical Center. I also discovered that JMT’s mother was on her death bed at Shannondale Retirement Center & Assisted Living after sustaining a stroke last week. JTH and I immediately visited Shannondale as JTH babysat JMT’s children for years. When we arrived it was obvious that JMT’s mother was near the end. We spoke to one of her sisters. All of the sisters had visited over the weekend and had since returned to their various homes. We concluded our visit quickly.

After sitting with JTH while he ate at Wishbone’s Famous Fingers & Wings, I headed to UT Hospital where I visited with HMC’s daughter. He was asleep when I arrived and I did not wish to wake him. His daughter informed me that HMC’s wife had recently been moved from the hospital to Asbury Place in Maryville, Tennessee. The other bed in her room is being held for HMC. It appears an extended stay at a retirement community is expected. Dr. Chiles is in Room 508 if you wish to visit. Please keep this family in your prayers.