Consistency

Consistency; a word that we use at work almost on a daily basis, "Be consistent, staff to staff, day to day, be consistent."  Oh the mantra that goes through my head as I work in the houses, to remain consistent.  Recently, I have been thinking about how this leaks into the rest of my life.

Case and point, at work, we all have to follow the daily schedules posted for the boys routine to become, well, routine.  If one of us allows "leniency" or decides that the schedule doesn't need to be followed that day for whatever reason, it becomes a habit and then the boys are upset when another staff member enforces the schedule in full (usually, enforcing bedtime.)  This follows into medication procedures, the exact rules we all need to follow, and not taking shortcuts.

Yes, consistency in the work-place is a must.  When I was a student at Southeastern University my studies were, well, inconsistent at best.  The classes I naturally excelled at I would get an A with little to no effort, whereas a subject that I struggled in (Math, Science) I would put every effort into getting a good grade.  I would sign myself up for study groups, tutors, go to the learning center, etc.  Still, after all that hard work, the best grade I could get in a Math course was usually a B . . . and I killed myself for that B.

As a result, my GPA would suffer and I had a difficult time accepting that sometimes, my best wasn't a 4.0.  It was soon after college that I learned the lesson that God doesn't expect perfection, He expects our utmost, our best, and even our version of perfection is nothing compared to His Completeness.  Complete in Him.  My grandmother used to sing a song to that effect, to which I unfortunately only remember a very little bit, but her voice rings through my head to this day with the words of, "Complete, complete, complete in Him, we are complete in Him."

Sometimes consistency in a group dynamic, akin to the one I have in the work place, is a very daunting task.  I am accountable to my actions and all I can do is try my best to encourage my coworkers to do the same - however, today I had the revelation that perhaps this might not be a, not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit thing.  It's not true that all I can do is encourage, I can pray, pray that God would make us one, that we would be guided by His Spirit, that we could provide consistency, love, and care the way that He would.  That His Unity would bind us and clear up any confusion.

See consistency is a difficult task as we are all different and we are all constantly changing.  However, if it is in Him we live and move and have our being, than together, His consistency will shine through.