Monday, February 2, 2009

Rachel Marie

I would like to take this moment to brag on my wife. If I had pictures it would make this post more entertaining, but my words will have to do for now:

In the beautiful month of late-January a cold wind begins to blow through the halls of Liberty University and it enlivens the hearts of hundreds of would-be Resident Assistant applicants. Some envision fame and glory, other ministry and enhanced responsibility. The genuine ones are refreshing and those that are faking it soon crumble in the daunting task of staying alert through little rest and intense sessions.

At the core of the RA selection process are the beautiful people that faithfully serve as Resident Directors. The RDs are full-time paid staff that have the job of... whatever their boss deems important that week on top of the responsibilities already listed in their job description which may or may not consist of anything except the phrase, "Whatever needs to be done to keep the Pax Liberti."

To describe her job a little better, last week Rachel dealt with mice on a couple of her halls. Mice, simple creatures, hard problem. It's cold and their house (an old basketball court) was recently destroyed. They found refuge in the adjacent dorm and have since been creeping around at night through the ceilings of the building. Who gets involved in a mice problem? Dads that care about their little girls. Moms that are grossed out by the thought of it. Housing that is in charge of the safety of the building. Pet Control with their little devious poison boxes. Resident Assistants that must hear the screaming at night. Office of Student Leadership that has to administrate taking care of the issue. Female students that want to bait the mice by using peanut butter on a spoon because they haven't seen them in a couple of days. And, my lovely wife keeping the orchestra all singing in perfect harmony as the mice go marching on oblivious to their obvious annoyance.

RA selection has been on hold in this story while dealing with the mice, but in Rachel's life they were simultaneous instances. Mice be gone. Rats have come (Resident Assistants in Training was the older, less politically correct name of RA Applicants).

Every applicant has multiple RDs that see them for a brief time and evaluate their performance. Rachel is a "home" RD to the girls on her halls, a "retreat" RD to the girls she had this weekend, and a "host" RD to the girls she'll have this week. All decisions are made mid-February after this confusion is complete and all applicants have successfully fallen behind on all classwork and social gatherings.

Rachel was required to work 27+ hours from Friday morning to Saturday night this past weekend. After a Sunday filled with a friend's birthday party, Super Bowl party, and typing up all comments made during those 27 hours, Rachel is back at it again today in RD meeting. I came home from lunch today to see her pouring over her notes typing frantically as if she writing The Shack 2. She's incredible making this all work, but this was only what was required of her.

This is where I really get to brag. Not only is my wife gladly doing all the above mentioned work, lovingly serving me as an insecure husband, serving with CampusSERVE, and every thing else involved, but she has also tried to go above and beyond that. She e-mailed every girl in her "retreat" and "host" week groups to see if they would sit down one-on-one with her for a cup of joe and a get to know. Above and beyond. She's gotten to see their individual personalities upfront and person without having to only see it in the scheduled times of the crucible.

Such a small token of genuine love for people is not a small task. Balancing her schedule would take a tandem of administrative assistants, but she does it all herself. She recently turned down the chance of hiring a personal assistant against my support. We've been toying around with getting her an intern or at least a stress ball! My wife deserves an award. I'm not sure which one, probably all of them.

Here's the end of the story. The last two years I've received calls from Rachel after the war room. Neither of them have been positive. The war room - my term - is like this (I'm struggling to come up with a good metaphor). People with diverse opinions and obvious agendas deciding who will and who will not receive thousands of dollars in scholarship and priceless responsibility. When these women get together and decide, it's a fight for what each person believes. Rachel is a lover... not a fighter. She has for two years been stepped on, disregarded, and insulted in the process of the war room. She's had some victories too and really made a good push for what she believes. Her response this year? Meeting with more applicants, taking more of her precious time, ignoring the mice for these precious r.a.t.s. She's absolutely amazing. Her comment to me went something like this, "I'm not even sure if my opinion will count, but I just wanted to get to know these girls outside of that structured time." Instead of being embittered, she has taken even more steps to set herself apart.

I think my wife is Jesus sometimes, but then she puts her cold hands on my bare skin and she makes me want to curse. Jesus wouldn't do that!

1 comment:

  1. Aww, it's nice to see how much you love your wife. I don't get to see that in person often enough!
    Melissa

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