Looking back over the past week I'm trying to think of something noteworthy to share. It occurs to me that you may be interested in knowing what a workday looks like when you're full-time support raising. I'm drawing inspiration from (& stealing the title of) a friend's old blog- he's away on honeymoon right now so will never notice ; )
So, the ordinary everyday... Support raising involves getting appointments to talk about TWR and my work in church services, at house groups and other kinds of meetings and activities. It also involves meeting up on a one-to-one basis with the individuals who (often based on the above activities) are considering supporting me with their finances. A lot of these activities take place on evenings and at the weekend. So what does my '9-5' weekday look like? Generally speaking, it involves me camped-out at somebody else's kitchen table writing lots of emails. Of course I need time to prepare for the talks that I give. Yet I have a feeling most of the time required is in chasing people up and fixing dates and things. It is always good to remind myself that my talk on TWR is not at the top of the priority list of the underpaid, overworked person leading that church or running a house group in their spare time.
When I'm not using my very polite British English to follow things up with people, I'm writing newsletters (& the odd blog post), scouring the internet for cheap train tickets for my next support raising trip, and attempting to keep up with the individual bits of communication between me and my supporters. There's always something to follow-up on, someone you wanted to contact and something to write up. Not that the perpetual sense of having more things to do than the time to do it in is in any way limited to my situation. Some of you guys have families to look after in addition to everything that belongs in your personal in-tray.
What's interesting for me in this stage is the fact I spend most of the '9-5' day working alone. Which means there's some point in each day when I go a little bit crazy (sometimes multiple points). It's up to me to get up in the morning, work out what to prioritise and get on with it. It's also up to me to actually take breaks and work out when to clock off. The spiritual lessons I'm learning through all this mostly relate to trusting God- knowing that I have to put the hard work in to raise my support but that He chooses from whom and how the support comes to me. I will push on some doors to find nothing. And I'll then be amazed to discover support that comes from people I didn't know 2 months ago and places I would never have thought of. Those are the extraordinary bits of my everyday.
I'm thankful for my colleagues at the end of a Skype connection and for the friends here who keep me sane. And I'll admit I am excited to see what God will do in the coming weeks. So here's to the weekend... and another (extra)ordinary week!
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