In the "Biz"

Today was one of the days that I spend doing numerous tasks that take forever but I feel like not much got accomplished. Periodically, I have to do paperwork: letters of confirmation to churches where I am going to speak in the next month, letters of introduction to pastors who request more information prior to making a decision about support, and sometimes letters of reminder to folks who haven't followed up on what I've already sent. It seems so simple, but it takes so long.

I'm never quite satisfied with the wording of these letters. I have to sound both enthusiastic and persuasive, yet not effusive or pushy. Somtimes I'm reminded of English class as a student where I had to write drafts and then re-write and polish the final draft to perfection. Of course, in English class, I didn't then have to mail them all out to pastors.

On days like today, I sit at my desk surrounded by commitment forms, stamps, envelopes, address book, address labels and my printer, whirring away with all my communication. I think how odd it is no one ever talks about the business side of missionary life--all the paperwork. I prefer people, but this is important, too.

In other news . . . My digital camera died last month and I just got a new one yesterday. I'm having a bit of fun playing with it's special features (I upgraded in quality) so you can be the beneficiary of all my practice!

Also, yesterday I changed the address of this blog. You may notice in your browser's address bar it says, http://www.arielrainey.com/ which is my new domain. For those of you who regularly check-in, the old address will just automatically forward to this one, so don't worry about making any changes. Profuse and profound thanks to my brother who walked me through the last steps of the whole process of forwarding the blog to the new site!