Glorifying Steps

Over the past week I have had the incredibly depressing job of packing up my office at Cool Spring.

I have gone through all my binders.
Cleaned out my desk and cabinets.
And reorganized all my files and materials for the office’s next occupant.

It looks really clean, and empty, and sad.

Emphasis on sad.

I did all of this in an effort to make my replacement’s transition much easier. She can start next week and immediately have a space to call her own. A corner to call home.

Just like I’ve done for the past three years.

I took this job at Cool Spring back in 2013, and on my first day I helped clean out a closet in the corner of an upstairs classroom. This closet became my first office. Two windows, a small desk, a bookshelf I would eventually fill with books and binders, and more than a few secret stashes of candy.

As I was cleaning, I couldn’t help but be proud of the accomplishments I have made, and saddened by the things I failed to see through. I remember some of my earliest tasks, sitting at that small desk, starring out the window brainstorming ways to incorporate classroom devotions into our daily schedule, writing some of my first policies and procedures, and planning the first Summer Camp I would direct. I also remember difficult conversations with my teachers and kids, big ideas that were written on the white board only to be erased several months later after deciding they weren’t going to work out, and countless mundane tasks I always seemed behind on.

As time went by, my office grew into a cluttered collection of these accomplishments (and failures). I would hang artwork and collect pictures from games and activities. My little corner closet grew from a tiny, empty box into a home away from home.

And now it’s empty again, ready to begin the journey all over with a brand new resident, longing to have it’s walls and shelves filled with new memories from a whole new chapter.

One of my favorite shows of all time is The Office. There are so many funny moments and quotes from the show. But one that will never leave me comes from the show’s series finale. Creed Bratton is giving a final interview for the documentary and makes the comment, “No matter how you get there, or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home.”

Cool Spring has been an amazing home for me for the past three years, and I want to thank everyone who has been a part of this chapter of my life.

I truly love this job. The people I work with are incredible and I have cherished every moment with some of the best kids in the world.

My next home will be Lesotho. And after that only God knows. I just have to thank Him for allowing me to call each place home, if only for a season.

With Love,
Tyler