My new "office"

So I have discovered that I can sometimes hate my office at church. Don't get me wrong. It's a nice office. The walls are painted nice colors, which took painstaking efforts to choose (Texas Leather and Dove White!) and I have a comfy couch and pretty pictures on the walls. There are nice people who work near me in my office, and sometimes we do fun things like go out for sushi in the midst of our work. And on really special days, fun people drop by the church to see me and I get to have amazing conversations with really cool folks.

But the majority of the time, when I am in that office, I am in there ALONE. And something feels wrong about that to me. On the weeks that I preach, I can sit in that office by myself for hours on end. And while that MAY be conducive to productivity for some people, for an extrovert like me that starts to feel like the worst punishment ever. Just make the office cold and drafty and you've got my version of hell.

And because I am NOT at my best when I am alone, I've discovered that I am way UNDERproductive in my office sometimes. I get a lot done... lots of little to-do things... but not much of substance. I go home at the end of the day, knowing that I was BUSY, but wondering what I actually DID all day.

It reminds me of seminary days. Honestly, the WORST place for me to study was the library. I found it's total LACK of distractions to be SO DISTRACTING! I'd get all antsy in the silence, looking around for something-ANYTHING to happen. But when I'd go to Starbucks on Nassau and be smushed in the corner, surrounded by annoying undergrad girls in sweats and tres-chic soccer moms, I'd get a ton done!

So I decided last week that I need a new office. One with wifi, coffee and soda, an abundance of people and a LOT of bread... Panera!

For several afternoons last week, and several hours today, I've camped out with computer, books, ipod, and papers galore and actually gotten a lot DONE! All interspersed with conversations with Panera employees (Ronna's the best- she knows my name), random table-neighbors and folks from my and Dave's churches. It's great!

So thank you, Panera. Thanks for being pretty much THE most popular restaurant in our town. Thank you for your bottomless soda, coffee, and tea. Thank you for your "You Pick Two" special with Black Bean Soup and Asian Chicken Salad. Thank you for providing the bustling environment I need in order to tune out and listen to God.