Back To The Grind

COMPLETELY forgot to post yesterday, although that's no surprise to me. Yesterday was the first day of substitute teaching I've had this fall.

Although most of my time is spent running Spirit Blade Productions, I substitute teach at the high school level an average of five days a month. I never know when I will sub. I could get a call as late as 5-9am the morning of. This is the beginning of my 6th consecutive year "subbing", and yet it's still a bit jarring each fall when I start up again. I have to learn all over again how to rush out the door half-awake at a moment's notice without leaving my lunch or laptop behind.

My regular work routine also takes an obvious hit. Well, obvious to me. If I'm on top of things (unlike I was yesterday), people who connect with me online never notice when I'm subbing, since I make it a priority to still get both blog posts up three days a week, process and ship any physical orders in our online store and answer any e-mails I can, as well as get on the forums and respond to any new comments there. Makes for a long day that usually lacks any creative work to make it fun, but you do what you gotta do to fill those little holes in the budget and keep a small company rolling at the same time.

All things considered, I enjoy subbing more than any alternative I can think of for a "side-gig". The work isn't difficult most of the time and it's good to stay connected to the rising generation, keeping my hand on the pulse of popular thinking. Subbing sometimes even serves as a reminder of why I started my little company in the first place.

I'll be posting this when I get home, but as I type it now I'm sitting in another high school classroom today. (Empty at the moment, I'm waiting for my next class to start.) I'm reminded of what a formative time high school and college are for so many people. It's the time of life when many people settle into believing what they will believe for the rest of their lives, regarding God, themselves and the purpose of existence.

I steer well clear of having "religious" discussions with students. But every once in awhile I find an opening to stimulate a student's thinking about truth in some way. As frustrating as the subbing grind can be to my short-term plans, I think in my better moments I recognize what a gift it is to "make tents" the way I do.(Acts 18:1-3)