Friday morning

5:46am Friday morning. My wife called yesterday. She wanted to let me know our daughter had been hit in the head by a falling bowl. Though no cuts or bumps the doctor suggested “taking it easy” for a couple days. That meant they would not be traveling over the weekend. My wife wanted to know if I would like to come home. I said “yes.”

Travel

5:32am I am traveling to Orange County today. I will leave at 7am. Seven thirty at the latest. I am going to see my daughter for her birthday. On the way I am stopping to meet a work acquaintance. I have only talked to her over the phone. She said to to visit if I was passing through. Usually I travel on weekends. But today is Friday. When I called to tell her my agenda she seemed excited. “Stop by. I will show you around.” Our brief conversations have had a flirtatious energy. Nothing overt. Enough to make us curious to meet. She has an appointment that finishes at 12:15pm. I will plan to visit around 12:30. One at the latest. I will meet her then head south to spend the weekend with my daughter.

Journey man redux

5:47am in the apartment. Took the dog for a long walk this morning. We are both tired. I know I mentioned before that my post chaplain career has felt like being a “journeyman” professional athlete. I bounce from team to team. I seldom stay for more than a season. I am never settled, never at home. I have a particular set of skills that are valuable to a team. I fill a needed position. I show up, work hard and get paid. After a while the team management decides to go in a different direction or try something new. I update my resume, look for a new opportunity, get a new job and the cycle repeats. It hasn’t been terrible. I get to travel. I make decent money. But it is tiring not having a permanent job. I miss stability. I miss having peace of mind. I want to wake up and not feel like I am about to be fired every single day I go to work. How long can I continue to do this? Will I miss it when it is over? And most importantly, what is the alternative? What will I do if I am not doing this?

Family

4:49pm in the apartment. Went to the sporting good store earlier to buy shorts. Now I am home. I am not going out again. My wife called. Her, our daughter and our daughters friend are supposed to travel to visit tomorrow. My wife has a sore throat. She had work meetings with people from out of state. She is worried she is sick. I will see if they make the trip. I am here and ready for them to come whenever. I really want to see my daughter.

Confluence

There is this confluence in my life where a lot of things happened together. A nexus. One was the five years of being the chaplain. I loved that job but after five years it had become stale. I wanted to try something new. Second, I became a parent. That changed my world outlook and made me more anxious. Third was the financial crisis. That disrupted our lives. I felt I had to make more money. I have gotten into a worldview rut. I don’t mind the things I have done. Sales, travel, operations. But I would like to feel that security and enjoyment of being a chaplain again at work. I am exhausted