A New Life

Originally published August 28, 2015

So we've all finished the first real week of our new life in Sewanee. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17. We have been and always will be in Christ, but the old certainly has gone, and the new is here. Not just physically or geographically; we are all three are becoming new people, in our own way, together, through Christ. Each of us is taking on a new role: Isabel as a new student and new athlete; Michael as a graduate student; me, as President of a company. Isabel is hysterically happy. And painfully challenged in Pre-Calculus, as she discovered after her quiz today. Ah well, that girl needs to be challenged.

Left, Iz in Cowan, atop the train at the historic station.

She's at St. Andrews Sewanee, a boarding and day school just outside the gates of Sewanee. It takes us 7 minutes to get there, and that's just because you have to go 20 mph at the elementary school crossing at Sewanee. She started before school started, at volleyball pre-season camp. Yes, Isabel Spinelli is an athlete and a team playa!! That's one of the reasons she chose to come to Sewanee with us, is the chance to play a sport. I'll admit, I was skeptical that she would endure, but she has not only endured, but thrived. She arrived in Sewanee on a Tuesday, and went to camp Wednesday morning, not knowing a soul. She was welcomed with open arms and warm hearts, and made friends and teammates immediately. Five days of pre-season camp and she was old school. She played her first game 24 hours after joining the team, and hasn't looked back. She has practice everyday for two hours after school, which consists mostly of conditioning activities and serving practice.

Right, Iz practicing her serve before the first home game.

Above, That's the look. That's why I'm banned from taking any more pictures for the time being.

After camp, there were three days of orientation/bonding activities.

This is one of my favorite pictures, right. Not of the kids at the table, but of the girl in the green rain coat, extending her hand to introduce herself to a kid who was standing by himself. She told me about this, and lo and behold, the school photographer caught it on camera. What a nice young girl. She's not the only one who does this. A lot of the kids at St. Andrews behave that way. It's shocking.

And now she's figured out classes: World history, Chemistry, Physics, Pre-Cal, English Lit, Spanish2. And did I mention 2 hours of volleyball every day? I'm exhausted thinking about it.

Michael, too, has finished his first week of class. He has just one class a day, but four of them are three hours a class! Then there's chapel, Eucharist, choir and the library. He's been at school all day most days. Yes, Michael is gone most of the day. He gets up, takes a shower, puts on presentable clothing (that is different from what he wore yesterday), and drives to campus, and doesn't come back for 6 or 8 hours.

Our Rally staff is laughing at the very idea.

Our company, Rally Prospecting, was located in the basement of our house for the past year, and on the main floor for four years before that. So Michael woke up, and went down the hall or down the stairs to work. Some times he would see how many days he could go without showering or changing his Miami sweatshirt, just because he could. The good thing is, Michael doesn't emit body odor. Seriously, it is his saving grace.

Some days he didn't even get downstairs....

And now he showers and changes his clothes every day!! Seminary is exhausting if not just for that reason!

He is energized by the study, but exhausted by the scheduling. There's a lot more to it than class. We already have to start planning for next summer, and sign up for this, and that, and be here, and there. There really is a lot of unexpected coordination. But his eyes are bright, his hair is washed, and his underwear is clean. School is good on him.

Off to school!

I also have a new life. I still wake up and go down the hall to work. But I do it by myself. I've been working with Michael since shortly after we met in 2009. Since 2009 we have sat within 10 feet of each other all day, every day. Most people couldn't believe we did that, and were married. And still like each other! We worked well together. Am I always the obedient employee? No, but we work well together as a team, and we've built a really strong company with some great employees.

I've left my employees behind as well, crammed them into one room in a temporary office space while we wait on new space to be ready. We email and talk, but it's not the same as being there to get the joke, answer the question, hear the bell when something good happens.

I've also moved from account management to sales, in addition to leading the company. I couldn't sell oranges for the orchestra fundraiser in high school! Are you kidding me? And now I've got an entire company depending on my ability to talk to strangers in Omaha and get them to buy my services?? Who's idea was that? And in a place where the internet is spotty in the rain and I have to lean toward the window to make sure my call doesn't drop in the middle of a sales pitch!

Right, that's my office!

Our team is great; they are all growing professionally, too, handling more each day. Our client list is growing, thanks to that team, and we've hired another sales person. But I still have to lead this company, from this stone house on the side of a mountain, where I spend my days talking, typing, and listening to Jackson snore behind me. I've taken up running again, which helps me run out the nervous energy of each day, gives me the endurance to get up and do it again, and the time to talk with God about my fears, anxieties and frustrations. But as I sit in my stone office, watching the butterflies dance outside, I am reminded that God is my rock, and the source of this new life he has provided us. As Grandma said, "God won't give you any more than you can handle." I think she was talking about children, of course, but it really applies to most anything.

Because with God, Isabel, Michael and I can handle this.