Shifting gears.

So the exhaustion I have been ranting on and on about...that's all work. I work pretty much 9-5, well at least theoretically, but practically a normal day @ work begins at 9 am and ends anyway in the 7pm - 8pm range with the occasional shift hitting the 10pm mark. And as if all that is not enough, you'd think I am a doctor or something , coz even long after I have called it a day or on a leisurely afternoon, supposedly my day off, I am on the phone dealing with work related issues or a I am working my way to work, to fix something.

Don't get me wrong I luv my job , and for the most part I enjoy my colleagues. Lately though it seems as though everyone at work has developed a 'Lisa Syndrome'. At Avondale I am affectionately known as Lisa, the go to person. Not to brag or anything, if anyone wants a resident's room number I am the go to person. Need a phone number , ask Lisa, need a form ask Lisa, phones not working call Lisa, network down, ask Lisa, doors not locking call Lisa, can't find keys ask Lisa, elevators not working, talk to Lisa...and the list goes on and on. You'd think this Lisa is a God or something...but truth of the matter is I am not a God.I am just me, just a mere human being just like everyone else. For everything there is a solution, other than Lisa, our General information binder is pregnant with information. Resident room numbers, phone instructions, emergency contacts ...you name it its all in there... yet somehow the idea of calling Lisa is the most preferred course of action. Honestly if an elevator is down, there is absolutely nothing I can do, other than suggest a technician be called.

March marks my 5th anniversary at Avondale. When I started, there were major problems...I mean major, from failing security systems, to rooms flooding...you name it. At the time I used to work nights, all alone and had no one to call, for the most part I had to think outside the box. and as I worked in various departments, that is what I have done - think outside the box. I can only come up with 2 possible explanations as to why my colleagues suffer from Lisa Syndrome. The first could be, because I have worked at Avondale the longest, the second is I think people are just too darn lazy to use their brains. I will be asking people if they have ever heard the saying that the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Though I am not one for making resolutions, I have decided to shift a few gears in 2010. I deserve to have a life outside work. So far I have been doing good. I leave work at 530pm instead of 7ish, and I do not answer my phone after hours or on my day off, after all, work does not pay my phone bill. In essence , in this New Year, I will refuse to take on other people's problems, and be their venting garbage been. Yes I am a good listener, but I think that gift will be available for worthwhile things...no more office gossip ...none of all that, because it is really taking a toll on me.

I remember Bishop Eddie Long preaching about this at some time. Pastor Orim Meikle mentions it all the time. They both believe that they shouldn't be in the office. In fact they believe in staying at home and praying for the saints there. Strange but there is some method to their madness, and interestingly their actions are biblical. Stay with me and in few I will get the verse and explain myself.

See when we get used to to the idea of running to the pastor for every little trial and test in our life we never grow. What these men of God are doing is to make their congregants know two things. The first is that in all we do we ought to look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.Men , yes even men of God , are infinite beings just like you and I are. So if I go to my pastor , with an issue , and my breakthrough doesn't come, I will be the first to point at the pastor, and say he is not anointed, or he failed me etc. Being unavailable to the church encourages or rather empowers the saints. rather than running to the pastor all the time, they run to God, and before you know it you realize that you have as much power as the Pastor, you become dependent on God and not on Man. Exodus 18:17-23 is about Jethro advising Moses, about getting helpers, because what he was doing was not good not only for himself but for the people as well.
Back to Avondale, I realize that I am no superwoman,and I can't do it all, so I will not be the go to person , nor the solution to any problem. I will have to let people figure it out, and break the Lisa Syndrome, most importantly break a cycle of laziness, and bring people to the realization that YES they can.