What Do I Do?

I have picked up on this very strange impression a lot of people seem to have about me. And, honestly, it makes me laugh. Many, and I do mean many, people have asked me since I came back from London a question that I only natural. But the implications behind the question are what makes me giggle. "What do you do to fill your time when you're not in South Africa?" Oh, dear readers... if you only knew. There is no time to "fill." Running a baby haven is time consuming, whether I'm there in person or not. It's just a lot easier if I'm there in person. I can have the impact I wish I could have on my staff and the babies and all of our support team members if I was there in person. But things do not stop just because I'm in a different country, and a different time zone. If anything, the work is more trying to do it all remote.

But, before I dive into this, if you're reading through this list and you say to yourself, "Girl, you don't have to prove anything to anyone." First, Thanks! But secondly, I'm actually not proving anything to anyone. And I don't care if people ask me this question. It's really just natural to be curious about how other people live. And I know that God knows what I do every day, how I fail and how I learn and try again. As long as He is pleased, I'm good to go. But I also wanted to take this opportunity to sort of keep track of my life right now so that I can look back at it one day, possibly when God allows me to return to South Africa, and I can smile and see how God was preparing me (and those around me) for what He's busy with next.

So to answer the question in more detail than you ever wanted to know - for anyone who would like to read the answer, here you go:

Every day I:

• Answer whatsapp messages starting anywhere from 3am to 7am and ending around 2 pm (most days)

• I gather pictures and photos of the children, sort them, update folders for their files, their sponsors, and their memory books

• I check through video footage (live and playback) of the property checking for any issues we're focusing on at the time

• I work on paperwork and projects and schedules and checklists (working with Tarren)

• I update and track all expenses, proposed budgets, proposed projects, and any donations received (and the project they were donated towards)

• I spend dedicated time praying for each of our staff members by name, each of our babies, each of our donors, each of our support team members, every previous staff member, every previous child in our custody, and every previous donor

• I read A LOT about non-profits, about leadership, about child development, about learning styles, and more. (I also take online classes in coding and other subjects to help me with my online job and if I ever get to go back to helping the computer program at Victory4All.)

• Oh, and I work on my online contractor job so I can pay my bills (barely)

Every week I:

• Meet with my management team (at least once a week, sometimes up to 4 times a week) over zoom to talk through schedules, finances, court dates, paperwork, staff needs & issues, etc.  (working with Tarren & Tyrone)

• I monitor and adjust our completed daily activities (see below) to see if our children are understanding, if our staff are overwhelmed, if anyone needs more personal attention, etc.

• I run through all of our weekly checklist items that help keep our records and our team running as smoothly as possible

• I upload all scanned receipts and update our register and "expected monthly costs" calculation forms

• Gather group and "nice" pictures of our babies from staff photos to send to sponsors & the child's social workers/family members

• Attempt to keep our ministry calendar up to date with changes in children's clinic visits, medical appointments, family visits, social worker visits, and court appearances

• Oh, and I work on my online contractor job

Every month I:

• I plan monthly baby activities (two a day for full month at a time), including Bible-story based lessons (thank you Lifeway!!)

• I monitor and review every child's development goals (making plans when needed to help any child falling behind), medical appointments, court appearances, family visits, etc for the month (working with Tarren)

• I update their memory book files, update their "important document" files, and update the private galleries for the Sponsor-A-Cot program

• I create and schedule a full month's worth of social media posts for Abba's House and Joy in the Valley - Facebook, Instagram, & TikTok (JITV isn't every month, as there's not a lot going on at the moment. But hopefully as we have things we can grow and sell, this will be more active.)

• I attempt to create videos for social media as well

• I attempt to write at least 1 blog post (hopefully 2) each month for both this blog and the Abba's House website

• I review all staff members recent evaluations (working with Tarren)

• I create, write, and send 4 training videos for the month to our staff and review their responses to the videos as they are completed

• I meet with our property manager (Tyrone) to go over any maintenance issues that occurred in the month, the expenses involved in running the property (including our vehicles) for the month, any proposed updates needed, and any incidental funds that need to be addressed. I also discuss with him upcoming costs of hiring farmhands and the projects they are needed for, as well as any safety/security issues that need to be addressed from the month

• Put together some sort of thank-you gift or motivational message to our housemothers to help them feel appreciated (I'll admit, though, this is harder with me being remote and it's not working as well as it did when I was there in person)

• Review inventory checklists for all things on the property (baby supplies, staff supplies, office supplies, farm supplies, etc.)  (working with Tarren)

• Order and monitor the spending of monthly resources needed for the next month (including pet food, etc for my kitty still living in SA).

• Review staff time sheets and create pay-slips as well as send out monthly salary payments to all active staff  (working with Tarren)

• Pay monthly bills and fees associated with running the property each month

• Review any incident reports or damaged property reports for the month, evaluate the cost of these events, and create plans to limit future events  (working with Tyrone)

• Gather and share prayer requests from myself, the management team, and our housemothers to share with our prayer warriors team and our local shepherding church

• Write and design at least 2 staff devotionals (at an easy-to-read level) for our staff to read while they're at work

• Find and share a staff memory verse and find rewards for the staff members willing to memorize the verse by the end of the end of the month

• Send thank you notes/emails to our wonderful donors from the previous month

• Oh, and I work on my online contractor job

Every quarter I:

• Attempt to keep board members in South Africa and America up to date on what's going on with the ministry

• Attempt to boost our fundraising efforts, or seek advice on new ways to help donors feel appreciated and involved

• Review analytics for social media and make adjustments to our plan according to the results

• Oh, and I work on my online contractor job

As needed I:

• Work with our boards of directors (in SA and USA) for meetings, updates, issues, etc.

• Keep an eye on my belongings left in SA and ask my staff to make changes if I see something is falling apart or about to be damaged by something

• I create and compile marketing materials needed for any events, online needs, etc for the ministry

• Review our website and make any updates/changes needed

I think that's most of what I do on a regular basis. Obviously, when something unusual happens, like a baby (or more than one) is unwell or a staff member can't come in to their scheduled shift, etc, then things get put on hold while I work with our management team (Tarren & Tyrone) to make a plan of action. And if we lose a staff member for various reasons (pretty common in SA), I work with my amazing staff manager (Tarren) to make plans for covering their shifts and starting the hiring process. I am currently also work with our labour lawyer as needed and we're busy now trying to figure out an HR representative that we can afford to help us with other legal issues regarding staff. Tarren helps me with these communications as the time difference is hard with professional jobs. Tarren also helps us with our tax consultant (as she's also our treasurer on the board) and she helps with SO MANY other things as well. Tyrone is also our safety manager and helps us with neighbor relations, working with our neighborhood watch team, and helps us run errands and make connections to local businesses who partner with us.

Besides all of this ministry stuff, I also spend as much time as I can with my family and helping my mom with things as she needs, since she's allowing me to live with her rent free while I'm stuck. I also help with the pets, of course, and we all take turns with dinner cooking and other household chores. And, occasionally, I work on something creative like crochet or embroidery or learning my new Kalimba that my grandmother gave me for Christmas, as well as try to read a little for fun each night and keep my Bible studies and personal prayer times up and going. All that to say... I do a lot to fill my time. LOL! If you know me, you know. I will sit still but not for long. I enjoy being busy with the Lord and learning alongside Him as He leads my steps. And I am doing my best to also enjoy sitting quietly with Him and enjoying what I call "pockets of peace" in the middle of chaos.