I Blame Chad

Now for the recap of my first week in Lexington.

I moved in on Sunday.  My parents and I drove the U-Haul from Williamsburg and we had everything unloaded by about 3pm.  IT WAS SO HOT THAT DAY (about 100).  My friend Steve helped us out, and Amy drove up from Blacksburg and unpacked my kitchen while I unpacked the bathroom took a shower.  Then she left and Steve took me to a picnic that his church (Grace Presbyterian - I will most likely go there) was having.  That was really nice because I got a chance to meet a lot of people my own age (and probably more Christians my own age than I knew in my two years in Williamsburg) and because I was exhausted and didn't want to cook :)

Monday was my first day of work.  I don't have much to say about my job so far because I just have so much to learn that I couldn't have learned in school (ie, all the administrative/paperwork stuff).  RCHS does things so differently from any other school I've seen, but I think that the setup will be a good fit for me.  Hopefully I will get computer and phone access soon so that I can actually contribute...

Monday evening I got home and continued to work on unpacking.  That was when I discovered that my bedroom carpet was soaking wet!  The water heater had started to leak.  I called the landlord and he was there within half an hour with fans and towels.  I got a new water heater the next day, which was great (and gave me a good feeling about where I lived).  The only annoying thing about it all was in the process the AC had gotten turned off and so it was 90 degrees in my apartment when I got back on Tuesday.

Wednesday was the most trying day.  I actually had a good day at work and left feeling like I'd learned something and gotten some things accomplished.  Unfortunately, all the happy feelings left when I walked through the front door to discover the power was out.  I called the power company and reported an outtage, then tried to stay cool while still unpacking.  At around 6:30 a guy came buy and checked the power lines.  He left and I still had no power.  I called again and heard a message that there had been no power disturbance at my location.  It was at this point that I started freaking out.

I called George and asked him if he had any idea what the problem could be, but he couldn't think of any reason why my power would be out but no one else's, but he'd come over anyway.  By the time he arrived he knew what the problem was.  The power company was supposed to turn off the power in the apartment below mine that afternoon.....but the guy turned off mine instead.  So it was back to the phone. I finally was able to talk to a real person and Gail became my favorite person in the world.  She was such a sweet lady...I picture her being about 57 and more than pleasantly plump but I guess I'll never know.   It took a while for her to understand the problem, but once she did, she immediately called a technician to come fix it for me.  Unfortunately, that guy didn't seem to think it was very urgent so it took him 2 hours to get there. 

So that is the tale of my week of trials.  My Dad says that this should serve as confirmation that I am indeed supposed to be in Lexington at this job with these students, and I think he's right.  I chose this position because I knew that here I would have the opportunities that made me choose this profession in the first place - to be deeply involved in the lives of high school students that they may come to know the God Who lovingly call their names.  I believe I can do that here.  My principal has already given me permission to be an active part of the Young Life ministry at the school....something I didn't think would happen given my job as counselor. 

Why the title?  Chad is the guy who moved out of Apartment B.  If he hadn't bought a house and moved out, Wednesday wouldn't have been so exhausting and torturous for me.  Ha :)