outWORD by Matte Downey

Today is one of those days when I need the super-powers of decision-making and forward-thinking. There are so many things to plan and direct in the next few months and it all starts now. I have to construct a tentative schedule for our small group for the next three months so that we don't all just show up and stare at each other while we eat potato chips (though admittedly that's not the worst thing that could happen). I have to choose which reading to do a class presentation on (which means skimming the whole coursepak ) and get a topic for a Christology paper for this term. I have a paper to edit and submit to a publication and a major funding application to complete which needs me to outline what great contribution I will be making to society with my MA in Theological Studies. And I haven't even started my second course yet! Probably the largest decisions right now (besides what to have for lunch) are choosing a track to follow for my MA project and selecting the area...

My friend said something this past week that made me stop and think. She told me that she usually goes for jobs that she is overqualified for, because she knows she can get hired for them and easily do them. Then, after a few months, she is bored and quits. She said that it was time to change this pattern in her life and take more risks. I rudely interrupted her as she was telling me about her current job situation, because it just sounded so much like me! I do the same thing. In a competitive job market, it is easier to go for the safe job. Less rejection, less compensation, less stimulation, but oh, so much easier and quicker to acquire. But in the end, she is right, we never last too long at these jobs. When will we finally just give up trying to do everything else and go for those things that God has made us to do and put some sweat into learning them. I am rebuked and challenged. Thanks, Awa . These are the bananas on my kitchen counter on their way to being overipe and qualified...

This morning two ladies rang my doorbell. I answered the door still in my bathrobe (YES, I was awake, but I tend to check my email and do some reading before I get dressed). They were Jehovah's Witnesses and they started right out of the gate by reading some scripture passage to me in French and asking my opinion about it, which was really a pretty thinly veiled attempt to direct the conversation to their particular version of the last days. There were really nice, polite ladies, but I had no desire to talk to them in a prolonged sort of way. My just-got-out-of-bed hair and disheveled bathrobe must have given them a clue that it was not an optimum time to have a conversation with me, so they departing leaving me with two French copies of the Watchtower which I set on my filing cabinet next to the Book of Mormon. I sat down to finish my reading and wondered if I should have continued the dialogue, but I really had not sensed that it was something I needed to pursue at that moment. I...