Surf City/Westbury Christian

I'm giving our inservice devotional tomorrow, the last one before school starts on Thursday. I'm not sure when it started but it's become a tradition that I do the last one. In the past, I've asked to be last because it takes me a long time to put it together- I do a Power Point presentation about my mission to Vietnam and I always have a great deal to process with pictures and emotions. Plus, I'm not good with technology!

As I have done for a number of years in a row, I will be giving away stuff from my mission; ties, t-shirts, fans, coin purses, and key chains. In the past, I've asked trivia questions but I've found there is an unfair advantage for long-time employees PLUS it takes too long. Tomorrow, I'm simply going to pull names out of a hat with the proviso that we start right on time and if you aren't present when you name is called, you lose out. To make it fair, I requested an employee list from our administrative assistant, Janice Pearson, which she graciously sent. I wrote all the names of our faculty/staff on slips of paper, putting males in one bag and females in another. And as I progressed, I made a startling discovery: we have over twice as many women working at WCS as men! The exact count is 63 ladies, 30 gentlemen. If you remember the old Jan and Dean # 1 hit song, Surf City, the hook line was, "Two girls for every boy!" That's our school- with apologies to our women for referring to them as girls. Two women for every man.

I was shocked at what I learned but when I mentioned this news to my female colleagues, none of them were surprised- they already knew and seemed shocked I didn't know. I guess I'm just not very aware. In the high school and middle school arena where I spend my time, it's pretty even. And our coaching staff is 90% male which skewed my perception. But I guess I'm just not very observant. Our pre-school, kindergarten, and elementary faculty is overwhelmingly female in nature as is their office staff. I know that but I just never put two and two together. Sometimes our eyes have to be opened. Joseph's brothers were not aware they were standing before him when they came to buy food in Egypt. The men on the road to Emmaus were not aware Jesus was in their midst as they walked down the road. Adam and Eve were not aware they were naked but that's because they were innocent. I wish I could claim the same. It's not a big thing that I was clueless about the gender composition of our school. But it is significant when I am blind to the needs of others; when I overlook the pain in my neighbors' lives; when I retreat into my own little orbit. I put in eye drops the first thing each morning when I wake up so I can see clearly. Maybe I need to reapply as the day wears on. After all, there's a pretty big difference between two and one.

Applicable quote of the day:
“There must be a happy medium somewhere between being totally informed and blissfully unaware.”
Doug Larson

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
www.hawleybooks.com