5 Things My Office Phone Does For Me

We just made a monumental leap in the millennium with our new office phone system. I think we went from 1970 to 2015 in terms of what it looks like and what it does. First of all kudos to our IT guy  for spending the time to find this new system and get it for me allowing me to be more productive. You rock!

There are a lot of new features, but these are the 5 that I love the most!

1. Tells you when I am out of the office and lets you know what to do and who to call for immediate assistance. I now have four (4) out of office options to choose from. I'm putting in the office and can't catch the phone right now; I'm not even in my office today; I'm not going to be in the office this week; I'm gonna be out of the office for an extended period of time so leave me a voice mail.

2. Tells me on my computer screen who is calling and from where and what number. So if you're a sales person trying to pedal your wares to me or something, can we say voice mail! If your a constant complainer church member (not that we have any like that), can we say voice mail! If you have already called me once that day, can we say voice mail!

3. The new phone is completely hands free operating through my computer like Outlook. All I have to use is my mouse or keypad. Its just another icon on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen so I can answer your call, and then click back over the tab I was on when you called. No problem!

4. If you leave a voice mail, I get a notice via email and can listen to the message wherever I may be, in or out of the office. I find this feature greatly useful, not having to be in the office to conduct my business.

5. Last but not least I have a contacts list on the screen that all I have to do is click with my mouse and it rings that person instantly. No strenuous dialing or pressing those heavy phone buttons. My fatigue level has gone way down with this new phone.

There you have it! This new phone system is going to revolutionize the way I work. I want to say thanks again to our IT guy for installing this new system thus giving me so many new features.

Leave me a voice mail, Luijarick

What does your phone system do for you? Comments? Discussion?

All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go

They say that clothes makes the man! I bought a tuxedo many years ago and I am always trying to find an occasion to wear it. I have discovered finding events for a tux is not so easy  My first time to wear it was for a staff Christmas party that stated "dressy attire" but I was the only one there with a tux. Go figure! My last time to wear it was a couple years ago on a cruise for dinner one night. I got a lot of looks and stares from the crowd but it was fun doing it. Mine is a solid black tux, with white shirt and red cummerbund and bow-tie. Perfect for the holidays! Just in case I also added a black bow-tie and cummerbund for that James Bond look.

Well, here I am again looking for an occasion to bear by tux to all! Surely the holidays and festivities will afford me an opportunity I need to dress in full tuxedo attire down to the shiny black shoes. If you have a lead for me that would be great!

Luijarick

Do you have a tuxedo? Comments? Leads?

Paper is Not Dead

This may sound funny coming from a church administrator because we seem to live in paper but...I would love to go paperless someday! At least that's what I have been saying for years. After a recent post on my Facebook page asking where all this paper comes from, it seems to be that it comes from, well, ME! I print everything and every email that I read that needs my attention. I have forms for everything but forms is what keeps us organized and flowing right? RIGHT?

A few years ago, while I was in a staff meeting, I looked around the room and all the ministers were on their phones. I still had a flip phone then. Don't judge me please! Soon after that I arrived to the 21st century and purchased an android phone. I still got scrutinized for now being the only one without an I Phone. So, I decided to do a paperless staff meeting. The day before the meeting, I emailed all the files that we were going to look at, even the calendar for the next two weeks. I printed no paper and came to the meeting with just my phone and instructed the others to do the same. The meeting started and we all got out our phones and went to town. I discovered something to my advantage very quickly. My android could retrieve Word and Excel files but the I Phone could not. I loved it! The meeting went well except we had a hard time seeing all the details on our phones in the files I sent.

Long story short we did the meeting paperless but it did not last long. Soon we got back to paper agendas and calendars and notes. I have come to learn that I will always live with paper to some degree and will have to get over the futuristic fact that paper will never go away. In fact a good friend of mine reminded me that PAPER IS NOT DEAD by sending me this funny video. While you are here take a few minutes and watch the video below. If you like this blog post and want to share it, just print it out and hand it to someone.

Luijarick

Are you paperless? Comments? Discussion?

Vinny and Vitto?

I have always wanted to hang this picture outside my office door just to let people know who they are messing with. I'm not just a pushover church administrator you know! You got a problem with the bathroom? Go see Joe! Hey, fill out that form or I'll call Vinney and Vitto! lol

In reality I am just the opposite from that picture and of course that picture was just for fun too. It was taken at my middle sons wedding and that's my youngest son with me. He commented our suites looked really cool like some tough guys thus the funny pose.

I call myself a hybrid in church work. There is so much operation, finance, and facility work in a church that so many times that is the primary work of the church administrator. I am not saying that if that is all you did, you would be a pain and hard to work with, but I know many are like that in this scenario. They get the job done and go home and that's all they handle. This type of church administrator is very common.

 I was told once by a co-worker that I was the mildest and most laid back church administrator he had ever worked with.

I'm a hybrid because I do church administration but I also do ministry as an ordained minister. I can marry you, bury you, and count your money! I do my fair share of funerals and have done many weddings along the way! At my first church in 1995 the pastor pulled his back out and I was asked to handle baptisms. I ended up baptizing over 100 people in one year along side of being the Business Manager / Children Minister. Now that's a combination for you!

Today I still baptize, conduct a wedding now and then and lead a funeral. I am also a mentor ,make hospital visits each week, go on mission trips, and other ministry activities.. In other words I do ministry and church business at the same time. I'm a hybrid!

Luijarick

Your comment! Discussion?

Acronyms R Us

As a Church Business Administrator, I live in a world of acronyms. Are you ready for this...NACBA, CCA, SBCBAA, CCBA, SBBOC, ECFA, BLN, and CABC. At one point in my life I was a member of the NACBA, the President of the SBCBAA, and the General Chair for the SBBOC, all at one time! Can we say con-fused! It's enough to make you crazy and it can make you sound really weird when talking to someone that is not in this field.

If that is not enough, it also confuses my wife when she hears me speak of these things I am involved with. She does her best putting up with me in this and when I get around other administrators and we starts using all these acronyms, she makes faces at me like, really? So, we are with her friends and one of them asked her what I did for a living. Being proud of me as she is, she stated that I was the Associate Pastor of Administration at our church. If that did not impress them enough, her next statement surely did the trick. "Rick is also the president of the NBCAA! Bless her little heart!

Luijarick

Can you relate? Comments?

Three Things I Learned About Stress

Wow! Now that is funny! Have you ever felt like the dog in this picture? Sure you have...we ALL have! I have used this picture a couple of times when speaking to groups on stress in their lives and how to lighten up some. My first presentation to a group was titled "Lighten Up, It's Just Administration". This is where my blog names came from; luija (lew-e-ga)! My first blog many years ago was luija.com and I had a lot of fun there. It soon morphed into luijarick.

In the secular / corporate world I would be the CFO, COO, and CEO all rolled into one person. In church life the CFO would be the Business Manager or Minister of Administration or Administrative Pastor. The COO would be the Administrator / Facility Manager, and the CEO would be the Executive Pastor. I have been all three for two years now and I have to say that picture above depicts many days for me the past two years. Wearing multiple hats in the office is really a challenge and some days, somehow, you just end up under the fat lady. Here are three things I learned from this picture over time.

1. Never stand under a fat lady for very long! The fat lady can be your work load, stress, circumstances in your life, or another person. Just know those are going to overshadow you at times so don't stand under them very long. Learn ways to move out from underneath the weight. I use laughter and fun to try and maneuver my way out from under those stressors in my daily routine.The key is removing the stressors.

2.  The folding chair is going to collapse sooner or later... but you don't have to be under it. We just can't stop some things from getting on top of us and put pressure on us. There is really not an "EASY" button to press and it all goes away. But we can avoid being under the chair by creating a safe place. A safe place can be with friends, time away from the office, anything that gets your mind off problems and allows you to breath and think clearly. With office stress, I get away from my office and walk the facility, go make a hospital visit, get a Dr Pepper from the kitchen, or whatever can help clear my mind.

3. When the chair collapses....don't just stand there! When life's problems pile up on you and crashes down around you, get out of the way. You have to do something about it and not let it get the best of you. I have mentors I use to vent and stay calm and help me with clear thinking. Placing people around you that will listen and help you think through issues is invaluable.

Here's the bottom line! When you look up and you're under the fat lady's chair that is about to collapse, remember those three things I learned and stay calm and RUN like the wind!

Comments? Discussion?

Luijarick

Mentoring Blues

I am going on my second year as a volunteer mentor at an elementary school here in Waco our church has adopted. It is a daunting task for me feeling many times that I have nothing to offer. I mean I am not a school teacher or anything and don't have the qualifications to be teaching. I ask myself many times, "am I making a difference?"

This year I am mentoring a 4th grade boy, I'll call him RH for this blog. We have only met once and today would have been our second time together. We meet once a week for one hour and do learning activities, play games, and get to know each other. My first session last week was great! We spent most of the time talking and getting to know each other. He is a pretty cool kid and we had fun together. All this week I have been thinking hard about my session with RH this week. What game would we play, what learning activity would he benefit from. I decided that I would let him choose a book and hear him read and then read to him.It was my anticipation all morning! I show up at my usual time only to be very disappointed. RH was in time out!

This was my very first time to have my mentor kid in time out. RH saw me come in the school office and had this sad look. I was not sure what was going to happen today. The school counselor came out and informed me that RH can't meet today. When they are in trouble, the privilege of mentoring is taken away. I understand the process and agree with it, yet is was disappointing for me.I told RH I was praying for him and that rules have to be followed or there will be consequences.

 It's the same with you and I when we disobey God's word, there are consequences. In the Bible we are instructed to repent of our sin and ask for forgiveness which He is faithful to extend to us. The good part of this episode today with RH is that it will open the door for me next week to discuss our actions and consequences and with good behavior it will allow us to meet each week.

Luijarick

Comments? Discussion? Your thoughts?

That Pesky Predictive Text Thing

We all use it because its makes us fast when texting. It thinks for us and always enters just the right word for us. It seems to know just what we are thinking and changes our misspelled words so we look good. Right? Wrong!

Here is an actual text message I sent to our staff of ministers at church after making hospital visits. We are all asked to send a message around after we make the rounds at the hospitals so the others are informed for their visits. So I simply did just that and sent this message recently after three visits. (the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

"Prayed with Bill, surgery went well, just recovering now. Prayed with Cindy they found the blockage and she is doing much better. Steve was in the shower so i kissed him."

I did just as you have and saw the incorrect wording just as I sent the message. NOoooooo! Wait! Rats it's already gone. Of course my quick next text message to the staff was " I meant to say I MISSED him" (dumb predictive text)

Some responses I received:

• You bring a new level to hospital visits, I have never kissed anyone in the hospital.
• You kissed him in the shower? I don't think I needed to know that.
• That is the best one I have seen recently.
• Wow! Thanks for letting us know that.

Needless to say I have a new reputation for making my hospital visits very personal and meaningful to the patients. So, there you have it straight from the horses mouth.

Comments! Discussion!
Luijarick

Luija.com Meets Blogspot.com

Many of you know me as luijarick over at luija.com. I wrote there for many years and had a lot of faithful followers and we had a lot of fun there. However, due to costs and time constraints I had to abandon luija.com. I still own the name but chose to make the change to blogspot and give this a try.

So, here I am again! Welcome to luijarick! Once again we will be having some fun, making light of what I do for a living...ad-min-i-stra-tion. Boring you say! Well think again because I assure you there is always something worth blogging about in my world. Although, I think I will take a slight turn with this new blog and open it up to the church congregation at large. Here you may read funny stories, sad stories, weird stories, and stories about what is on my mind at times.

Ok! That is all of the introduction for now. I just wanted to get this up and running and start getting the word out again that luijarick is at it again! Come back often or you'll miss something!

Luijarick