Overtime

It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Luke 12:38-40 (NIV)

For three days during History Fair, we do not work regular eight-hour days. More like sixteen-hour days. We begin early each day and go long into the night. We arrive at the convention center by 7:00 to set up for the day. Depending on what will be happening, we might be putting stickers on tables to tell students where to set up their entries or laying out judges sheets. We could be connecting equipment for documentaries or setting up the rooms for performances. We prepare refreshments for judges and put names on awards. During the day, we have questions to answer, paperwork to oversee and many miles to walk. We rarely leave the convention center until 9:00 or 9:30 each evening. We don’t even stop to eat. Meals consist of fast food, and we dine as we work. The day does not end when we leave the convention center. At least one of us takes home papers to sort or data to enter into the laptop computer. Some of the more complicated work like putting winning entry numbers into the database requires quiet and concentration that the convention center does not allow. Most nights, I work at home until 12:30 or 1:00 in the morning, only to get up a few hours later and do it all again. My family is ignored, my house turns into a mess and my animals miss me during those three days. By the end of the week, I am exhausted and so tired I can’t think. If you figure that our staff of seven each spend forty-eight hours during the event that is a lot of time! And does not include the many hours of preparation time we spend for six months prior to the event. Most of my staff gets overtime, which is time and a half, so it is also a big expense. I do not get overtime, however. I am in the management class so only get compensatory time, which is one hour of time for every hour worked. The time is deferred so I can use it at a future date. My twenty-four hours will be saved for three days off. I kept reminding myself of that when I was bleary eyed from lack of sleep. It is an interesting concept to be able to “bank” time. That is not something that is really possible to do, but it makes me feel good anyway. Once used, time is spent; it really cannot be retrieved. There won’t be any overtime when Jesus comes again. He says he will come like a thief in the night and we need to be prepared. We won’t be able to say, “Oh, wait a minute, there is someone I need to witness to or someone I need to ask forgiveness of.” Our time here on this earth will all be over. We need to live each minute as if it is our last. Don’t leave anything undone. No one knows the hour of His arrival.