Home Office?

Or is it office home?!  I am spending enough time in my office in our home that it sometimes feels like the office is my main residence!  Over a normally full schedule of travel, we laid the extended time we needed to be with Shelly's dad, after her mom's passing in June.  Shelly and I were travelling so much from June through October that we had to make some tough decisions.  Our home group of around 14 years didn't make sense any longer.  We looked over our fall calendar in August and found no Tuesday evening that we could host the group before December.  That's not a home group... so with sadness but knowing it was the right thing for everyone, we had a final gathering and freed everyone to find more active communities.  We also missed the COICOM convention in El Salvador in November.  I'm on the board of that Latin American organization.  This year was one of the few since 1993 that I did not attend.

So what am I doing these days in the home-office-home?  I do most everything on the computer and phone.  Here are some of the projects I'm working on as the CEO of Paraclete:

• There has been an unusual amount of government compliance work this fall--state filings, IRS reports, legal changes.  I don't have to do it alone.  I'm working with some contractors and a lawyer.  But I'm in the middle of it.
• We are working on new policies to care for Paraclete as it grows.  Some is board policy and some is my own.  I get involved in the writing either way.
• Interest in Paraclete is high.  We accepted two new associates earlier this week, and there are 13 other couples or singles at some stage of expressing serious interest in serving with Paraclete.  I don't do all the candidate interviewing by myself, but I lead the team that vets all the incoming folks.
• As we grow, our systems have to change, and we need new tools.  Today I was working with vendors to connect our donor system with our email marketing system to offer a more integrated service for Paraclete associates.
• Today I ordered a system to train Paraclete associates and staff in mandatory sexual harassment prevention education.  The associates are going to love this... not!  You wouldn't think a mission would need such a thing, but it is prudent, and required or strongly encouraged by some states.
• As the chief Communication Officer (I just made that up... but it's accurate) I was the executive producer of the Paraclete Christmas card that is arriving this week at the homes of all Paraclete donors.  And we're about to go to press with a new recruiting brochure.

It's all pretty boring stuff for most folks, but part of what it takes to keep Paraclete running smoothly.  Serving the servants is a role I'm used to, and one that I feel called to.