waiting...

So the ATT website says my iPhone has shipped. Actually, it says it shipped on June 17. There's a Fedex tracking number and everything, but there's no tracking info. It's probably somewhere between here and China. In all the tech blogs I've read, I haven't seen anyone express the least bit of concern that these phones are made in China. My last iPhone was the regular 3G, and after a year or so the side volume button fell off. Fortunately, you can control the volume with the rocker button and didn't need the slider, but still ....

So I'm waiting on the iPhone. I'll go to the Liberty game tonite and wait on them to show up as the outstanding team I believe they can be. I'm waiting on our church to step up and assert the leadership I believe is within them. And I'm waiting on this organization to turn around.

Except that's not right. I'm not waiting on this organization. As I've previously posted, I walked into a nonprofit that had suffered from years of mismanagement and no financial oversight. In addition to the lack of financial processes and procedures (and accountability and cash), there appears to be an attitude of resignation in the organization. As the new ED, I can't afford to wait on anything -- I have to get help to get our finances in order. I have to get a Board together that has the ability to monitor organizational finances. I have to coach and train my people, giving them cause for their spirits to be lifted. My primary responsibility, though, is to develop the vision and forward the mission for the organization. It receives a lot of government money and as such I'm prevented from introducing any overtly Christian elements into the ethos. But as I told the Board, my faith walk governs my life and as such, is a part of everything I do. So the challenge here is to be a Godly ED, remembering that it is my privilege to serve here as we collectively serve our clients: people living with HIV/AIDS, people with substance abuse issues, and people with mental health issues. I think in church vernacular we refer to them as "the least, the last, and the lost," or the "them, the they, and the those."

Those are the people I serve, and I owe it to them to give them the best I can. I can't help but think about Esther. My predecessor, though not a female, was a Vashti of sorts. He refused to follow proper fiscal and organizational processes and procedures, and was subsequently dismissed. I came in, and one of the first instructions I got from one of my Board members was to be a bit less corporate in my approach. I declined, and I'm glad I did. This organization needs a little of the structure and formality often found in the corporate world. It certainly needs the sorts of fiscal controls and accountability found in (most) corporate environments. If I didn't come here, I don't know whether the agency would have survived; if it didn't, the people who are served would have been transferred to other programs. But I would have perished -- somewhere inside I wasn't happy being a computer jockey to attorneys, and my spirit was drying up. So, like Mordecai said to Esther, who knows but that I was sent here for just such a time as this?

When I start writing, I always have all these thoughts, but the thoughts race faster than the fingers can, and I inevitably lose them. Plus, I never really have time to sit and write like I want. I need to work on clearing off my desk now so I can get out of here and go to the game. I've finally put a link on my FB page to my site and my blog, so maybe now more people will start to read it.

Before I forget, my friends Brian and Elizabeth celebrated the birth of their second child and first girl, Katherine. She was born at 2:02 this afternoon, weighs in at 7 lbs, 12 oz and is 21 inches long. Aside from welcoming a new life into the world, this is very special for me: B and E were coworkers. I was friends with both of them, and each confided to me that they liked the other. I was able to keep their confidences, but I was also there to watch the romance blossom. On September 22, 2001, I got on a plane from LGA and flew to ATL where I had the honor of participating in their wedding (they were married by the same priest who had united E's mom and dad in Holy Matrimony). Four years later, in a surprise on the Top of the Rock in NYC, I was the officiant as they renewed their matrimonial vows. I was the first person outside the family to hold their son Luke, who was born on October 12(?) 13(?) 2005. My Dad met them when he came to NYC (E was preggers with Luke then), and he still asks about them. So it gives me immense pleasure to watch them add to their family. Brian is the quintessential American success story. Time and time again, I've seen him assess his present situation, decide where he wanted to be, figure out the steps necessary to get there, and then I've watched him methodically approach (and usually attain) his goal. I'm not going to put their personal business all over the internet, but he's done quite well. Congratulations, B, E, and L! Welcome, K! --- And together we have that bastion of Southern shopping: BELK's. Way to go, y'all!!!!