Those changes, unfortunately, were not all good. The delegation of responsibility worked well in some cases, but in many, the middle of the year found us here at the office attempting to correct so many errors that we felt we were losing ground. With 6 months left in the year and several huge conferences coming up, we could no longer afford to miss out on opportunities and so we made changes again.
Adding office staff was a big struggle that happened during all of this as well- with money short and time even shorter, who do you find that can take on the full-time position for so little?
I felt as though we were re-arranging furniture in a living room every day when what I really wanted was a bigger living room.
In late 2011 we lost my assistant of several years and our Operations Coordinator took on another part-time job leaving us extremely short-handed. After 6 months, we were lucky to find that assistant that was willing to take on the responsibility.
Things, once again, began to change and I found office hours that had been lost for what seemed like a year. We began to make progress, add people, find new partners and GROW. While it would have seemed like a time to rejoice, the profitability of the change was greatly diminished again when some team members decided they did not like the changes or those that had grabbed the employment opportunities.
Once again...change.
For the last 3 months I have handled all of the office communication, correspondence, recruitiment processing, uniforms and marketing by myself in order to appease those that did not want to communicate with the new staff.
As I had suspected, this made no difference but rather simply revealed much about many.
Time for change again.
With almost 200 members again, the Chasing4Life Disaster Response Team is stronger than it has ever been. It is something to be proud of, and its members should wear the team colors proudly as more mutual aid agreements and more contracts and more networking has occurred in the last 3 months than ever before in the history of the organization. Our largest Summit is scheduled for February and for the first time in years, we are very close to running out of room at one of our Summits.
With new partners from around the world (Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, etc), we have more gear, more capability and more opportunity to serve than ever before.
All of this has happened during CHANGE, and those that screamed for these changes have played no role, communicated little, and have participated NONE.
Change often times can be painful. As our family prepares to move to a new farm, I am reminded of when I was young and our family relocated from my childhood neighborhood to a new town. I hated it. New people, new streets, new kids, new school. I selfishly displayed my anger and childish opinion to my parents and made their lives a living hell for quite some time. Two years later I saw that the change had been the hardest on my parents and realized that their sacrifice had made a better life for our family.
It has been the same with Chasing4Life.
The changes have been difficult. I miss the days when I had hours to just talk on the phone with everyone, sit around and dream with them, interact and visit. Those days have been gone for some time as I have been forced to take on all of these responsibilities and have been prevented from utilizing the new staff for fear of angering a few.
Today is the first of October and also the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. For those of you that know your biblical history, it is a season of change...AGAIN.
With so many members, with so many opportunities, with so many demands and so much growth, it is time to shake the dead leaves off the trees and start looking ahead to the Spring.
Our new office staff, along with the old office staff is ready to attack 2013 and we plan on seeing our membership double in the next 6 months. The days of "no-shows" at events are over. The Summit will be full and by March of 2013, we will be ready to deploy like never before.
For our team members, there is new opportunities for paid and unpaid deployments alike for those that attend the Summit and the trainings it holds. There are new relationships within the new membership that are yours for the taking. There is a new opportunity to serve this country with new gear, new trucks, new trailers, new equipment and new agreements.
For our supporters, you are about to see the Chasing4Life team thrive beyond anything you saw in 2005 and 2006. You are about to see more national recognition than you saw in 2008 or 2009. You are about to see an army that consists of truly passionate soldiers of humantiy.
For those of you that simply visit this blog from time to time, these changes mean we are looking for you. Get involved. Contact us about joining. Grab hold of the chance to serve, to train and to fellowship.
For those of you that have been unhappy with the changes? The results do not lie. Dead leaves fall to the ground and that is all. The changes were needed.
The changes have been hard, but a new season was on its way and I am glad we made them. As in my yard, not every tree handles the chill and transition, but Spring looms ahead with the promise of a great yield in the future.
Until next time, I have to go rake some leaves...
