“If I asked you to describe your job with one visual, what would it be?”

Here’s what a Google Search yielded for me on Shutterstock which I then replied to Kem with on Twitter:

Image can be downloaded from Shutterstock. Click on image to be redirected.

I work on multiple communications projects throughout the day, every day. My work is all about communications, communications, communications. (My life has been, too!)

Whether it’s crafting content for our social channels, strategizing communications plans, finding messages from various departments to communicate in email blasts, creating email templates, writing high-level executive messages, project managing our quarterly newsletter, coordinating with freelancers, keeping an eye on our brand, or proofreading and copyediting the corporate blog, among a dozen other things, my goal is:

To create thought-provoking, visually-stimulating, faith-inspiring communications across all lanes.

Do you have a visual that represents your job?

I had a friend who used to live by his schedule. Mondays were for catching up on last week’s newspapers; Wednesdays were his days of scheduled fun… Every day of the week had its hours properly allocated. I thought he was nuts.

But I’ve changed over the last almost twenty years and am slowly morphing into a version of him. Oh my.

Our office Google Calendar will show you that every Monday morning from nine to noon, we’re all doing 9time.

Here’s the exact description on our calendars:

9time comes from the adage “a stitch in time saves nine,” that is, a small action taken today can help avoid the need for major intervention and work later.

At Every Nation’s Nashville office, 9time is from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon every Monday. This block of time allows all staff to plan the week and so maximize their productivity. Practically, that means no interoffice phone calls, e-mails, meetings, or office/cubicle interruptions during this period.

Will you actually find all of us doing 9time? Yes and no. Let’s be honest. Some of us treat it like a religion; others think it’s a nuisance.  The bottom line is that Monday mornings are meant to be used to either plan your week, or get started on your week without interruptions.

Which category do I fall under? A hybrid of planning and jumpstarting. Really. But last Monday, I realized that my 9time efforts were not enough, so I Googled “9time management” to find an article I could glean wisdom from and share on Twitter. Instead, I found this blog and came out of my research a little more enlightened on productivity.

Creating ample time for pure, uninterrupted, focused attention (on whatever it is you want to progress) – Schwabe

The blogger is an entrepreneur who juggles many freelance projects, so I’ve adapted the system to fit a nine-to-five-thirtier like myself. Here’s what my schedule looked like last week:

My calendar is dimmed because I set it up this way in the Settings to dim past events.

I created blocks of time to discipline myself to focus and refocus on different projects. Within these time chunks are another layer that further breaks down time into blocks of thirty minute stretches using the Pomodoro Technique.

Before I started blocking off time into these project chunks, one project would take over, and I was left having to play catch up with the rest. Not fun. Realistically, I have to tuck in variables like requests from bosses, and unforeseen challenges like cranky printers that pull a Murphy’s Law. But even with these obstacles, I got more done last week.

The verdict on my first week’s efforts? So far, so good. Because I also have to deal with other variables like approvals and revisions and other minor annoyances — and because it’s not a perfect world even with 9time and near-obsessive time management skills — some of my projects from last week are still unfinished and will have to wait for the following week. Boo.

But it’s all good. Progress is still progress even if you think it’s at the price of going nuts.

(I got this blog post done in two pomodoros in my Saturday chunk of time allotted to “Blogging.” I’m on to the next one…)

Do you manage time? What techniques do you use?

When a noise outside our front door sets all three boys on a barking spree, Oscar is the only one who runs to me, and with his paws on my knees, looks up and softly whimpers: “Mom, there’s a noise outside. Can’t you hear it? It’s scary! Mo-om!”

He takes every chance he can to sit next to me on the couch, and lays his head on my chest and looks up into my eyes.

When I’m out of town on business, Oscar is the most miserable. He sulks and stares at the door, hoping I’ll walk in.

He just can’t get enough of me. I am the end all, be all of his existence.

This is my one word for 2012.

It’s from one of my favorite Psalms, the 126th one. The verse that I love the most is the first:

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.

I’ve been in such a dark and lonely valley for the most part of 2011, but I know that right beside me, my Savior stays and holds me by me right hand, and tells me constantly of His fierce, passionate love for me, even when I refuse to hear Him.

It’s been so dark that I’ve forgotten how to dream.

That’s what I’m looking forward to in 2012. Being restored.

How about you?

on airport shuttle to get my daughter!!!—
Thelma Bowlen (@thelmabowlen) November 13, 2007

Just landed in Orlando! In one piece! Hehe. Missing people but excited to see mom.—
Kyera Legaspi (@kyerabee) November 13, 2007

i felt like i gave birth again. only this time she's 17 and i didn't have to wait 9 months! i looove her sooo much.—
Thelma Bowlen (@thelmabowlen) November 14, 2007

falling into a deep and blissful sleep for the first time in 8 weeks.—
Thelma Bowlen (@thelmabowlen) November 14, 2007

I digress.

This Christmas on Christmas Eve celebrating is deeply rooted in Philippine culture and follows most Filipinos wherever in the world they go. I personally don’t necessarily feel the need to do this but I will never say no to food and hanging out with people, so since moving back to the US in 2007, Kyera and I have spent Christmas the Filipino way.

In 2007, we were in Orlando with our pastors from Victory and their families, the Magpantays and the Duques, at the Magpantay’s home. The following year we did the same thing but at the Duque’s.

In 2009, our first Christmas in Nashville, the Daswani’s had us over. I’ve known them since 1993 when I first started attending Victory.

Since 2010, we’ve been hosted by the Tabelismas. One of the most generous families I know. Their home is party central for many of our Filipino gatherings. And yes, they have Karaoke!

We do pot luck and sign up to bring a dish, or in our case, we have dibs on a dessert or drinks. The food is a mixture of Filipino and American favorites.

As soon as all the families have arrived, we give thanks for each other and for the food.

And we smile a lot because we’re so excited to eat and hang out!

This year, our hosts took the festivities up a notch and put together a program. After dinner, Malou handed out strips of paper we were forbidden from opening. We then gathered in the living room, watched the Story of How Candy Canes Got Their Stripes, and then one by one, we unfolded our strips of paper and read our questions out loud.

Mine said: “What is your favorite Christmas food?” “Deviled eggs!”

After everyone read their questions and shared their answers, we then played a nameless game I’ll call “Roll and Grab.” Each person was given the chance to roll a pair of dice and if they rolled a seven or a double, they had to put on a pair of gloves and try to unwrap one of a number of gifts. The dice, though, rapidly made its way around the room, so with each seven and double rolled, the next person jumped up and tore the gloves off of the person unwrapping, grabbed the gift from their hands, and continued unwrapping the mystery gift.

There was no such thing as old or young. The glove grabbing and gift unwrapping was borderline aggressive. Hilarious! And then we played “Dirty Santa” minus the mean gifts that we hand out at our office Christmas party…

At the end of the game, gift bartering took place so everyone who played got to go home with something they actually liked. No plungers with Lysol at this Dirty Santa game!

No Filipino party is complete without lots of picture taking.

And lots of dancing or singing or both. This year, we let the Karaoke rest and just danced.

Kyera and I finally headed home at two in the morning — with two trays of leftovers — to open our secret gifts to each other. Since we already gave each other our big gifts, I decided to set a ten dollar budget for us to give each other a secret gift which we ended up buying together but separately and sneakily at Target.

“I’m checking out! Don’t go near line eight!”

Opening one gift on Christmas Eve is a tradition I’ve had since I was a kid and the one thing I’ve handed down to Kyera.

She cheated and got me something worth more than $10: a jar of night creme I’ve been eyeing! I got her a pair of fuzzy, hot pink slippers she wasn’t able to guess.

It was a really good Christmas. One that will definitely be remembered as the one with the gift grabbing and the dancing around midnight.

And love. Lots of love.

The plan was: Buy tall-ish live tree outside the Walmart on Nolensville, buy lights from inside Walmart, and head home to make an event out of tree decorating. We were even planning on getting more decorations since the ones we had were barely enough to cover our five-foot tall Kmart-bought plastic tree with built-in lights.

That was the plan.

So after Christmas 2010, our faithful little two-year old Chinese tree was returned to its box for good — taped up, and then brought to a drive-thru Goodwill Drop Off.

And then life happened this year. Hospital trips both emergency and elective came along with the loss of my part-time job, and we’ve been pinching pennies and making budget cuts since the end of August.

While I was at our organization’s Winter Conference, Kyera sent me a text message:

“Where’s our tree? I was going to put it up but it’s not in our storage.”
“Are you sure? Did we donate it? I can’t remember.”
“Oh right! LOL. We did!”

Up until yesterday, I kept thinking about getting a tree. Definitely not a live one because they’re expensive, but a Chinese one bought from The Man. A five-foot tall tree is $80 now, fifty percent off, at Target, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a tree when that money could and should go to groceries. When your priorities are down to food, clothing, shelter, and medical bills, there’s absolutely no room for “Christmas Tree” in the budget. Or clothing for that matter. Food and shelter is far more important. And paying medical bills.

Kyera is such a trooper to not mind us not having a tree. It doesn’t bother me either. But I did put up our gorgeous Martha Stewart wreath so people driving by our house wouldn’t think we weren’t celebrating Christmas. (Albeit it’s not your traditional wreath…)

Don’t get me wrong. We’re not starving and we did splurge on each other’s Christmas gifts. Kyera got a Clarisonic and I got a Kindle Fire. We are grateful that we were able to do this for each other. Our lives since August may have been a rough ride, but it pales in comparison to the people of Mindanao who are now homeless and have lost so much. Or the homeless of Nashville. Or children who live in homes without heat, electricity, and running water. I simply cannot bring myself to complain or feel bad that we are celebrating Christmas without a tree.

I’m thankful for the roof over our heads, our three adorable boys (Fine, dogs.), our car, our friends, and our God who sent His Son to take on human flesh so that one day He could die for us.

Yes, I simply cannot bring myself to complain.

From us to you and yours, Merry Christmas. May yours be filled with as much love as ours.

My flight left an overcast, cloudy Nashville on Tuesday, pushing its way through thick, gray clouds until we found this view.

We landed in the dark around six at night. Too bad my iPad couldn’t take pictures of the beautiful lighted cityscapes of DC, Virginia, and Maryland.

Pastor Brett Fuller hosted the welcome reception for guests at Grace Covenant, and shared a brief message to open the conference. He preached out of Luke 1 from the account of Elizabeth becoming pregnant with John and how her husband Zechariah’s mouth was closed and prevented from speaking because of his doubt. In a nutshell, Pastor Brett’s message was about the power of our speech and how we need to watch what we confess. God allowed Zechariah to be mute for a season because his speech would have been negative and doubt-filled.

It was a good reminder to speak faith over a situation, i.e. from Paul, “pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed.”

The following morning, guests boarded two buses for Mount Vernon for a tour of George Washington’s estate.

I skipped the evening trip to Ford’s Theater for A Christmas Carol because I didn’t have a ticket, and ended up having dinner instead with new friends from one of our Every Nation churches in Memphis. This is who I got to know well that evening at Eggspectations — Pumpkin Roll.

It called my name from behind the cold glass.

We had more free time the following day after the morning session and before the Christmas party, so my new friends, Ariel and Rose Untal, and I headed to downtown DC for a quick look at the sites. We didn’t see much. Roads were blocked for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and a World AIDS Day program, but I did get a photo of some building.

As soon as I get a hold of all the audio from the Winter Conference, I’ll have them posted on our podcast site.

It may not have been an exotic location but I’m so thankful for the break in my routine. And while it was for work and not play, I love being able to spend time with our pastors and missionaries.