There are those who see change as necessarily virtuous and there are those who see it as necessarily evil. Both of them only see it their way theoretically, in the abstract, because everybody knows that sometimes change is good and sometimes it is bad.
Personally, I’m more disposed to the permanent side of life. I think that’s by habit, because I’m not sure I’m that way by nature, which, for me, is a bit restless and looking for something new.
Yet I’ve come to see that the value of change is in what it preserves.
So I wasn’t real excited about some of the changes we’ve had to make here at CiRCE. Like everybody but Tiffany’s, we’ve felt the impact of this economy and it has forced us to cut every cost we possibly can cut. Regrettably, that has meant I’ve had to release Nancy, whom many of you will remember from the conference.
This was, without a doubt, our best run conference, and that is thanks to Nancy. So I want to express here and publicly how much I appreciate what Nancy did to bring order and stability to the CiRCE operations. I wish her the best, all the best, as she moves into a new chapter in her life.
Another big change is that we have moved our operations home. This was very intimidating to me. We had four rooms, including a good sized office for me, another for Nancy, a reception area, and a large work room.
Now that’s all coming home. My saintly wife actually suggested the idea if my memory serves. She told me to use the living room for my office and the boy’s room for the work area. Since three of our five children moved out during the summer, it became possible.
So now I’m in the process, and it’s very disorienting, of moving my office home. In a way, it’s kind of funny. The work station has been set up in the boys room, but only late last night did we finally break down the bed hiding behind it.
The Salvation Army and Goodwill are coming over for a party on Saturday. We’ve got couches, most of what’s left of the bedroom set I grew up on (mastered Labyrinth on the desk, which always reminds me of my German cousins Mathias and Katrin who introduced me to Labyrinth when my family visited them for Oma and Opa’s 45th anniversary in 76 or 77 and I fell in love with them and they gave me tours of Rottweil and other Black Forest sites), dressers, etc. I envision them dueling over some of it.
If you are local and want anything, let me know before Saturday! It’s all pretty beat up, having endured lots of children.
But while this post inevitably drifts into nostalgia because that’s what I do, that is not it’s point. Rather, my point is to say that in this case at least one of the changes is wonderful. The transition is difficult, but now the CD/DVD duplicator is literally only a few steps away all day every day (unless I’m not here, of course). As a result, we can triple or quadruple our CD production. Which means, in turn, that all of the conference CD sets will be mailed by Tuesday!
That’s saying something. In the past, we’d be lucky to have them out by mid-October. But between David and Katie’s editing work and this move, the whole process has become much more effective. And we’ve sold more CD sets this year than ever before by this point.
In a way, I’m not surprised. From the feedback I’ve received, it seems this was our best conference ever. And no wonder: John Hodges, Andrew Pudewa, Martin Cothran, James Daniels, Debbie Harris, Karen Kern, Leigh Bortins, Leah Lutz, Marcus and Laura Berquist, and Vigen Guroian all talking about, what is for us the most important idea we need to get our heads straight on, nature, and each person humbly presenting ideas for our contemplation… How could it not work? And God blessed it.
I came into this conference convinced before God that it was the most important education conference I’ve ever been involved in or even heard about. I came in with fear and trembling. Some of the things we discussed were not easy to swallow or to absorb (e.g. assessment). Some were incredibly exciting and liberating (e.g. the nature of the child).
But throughout the conference I had a growing sense, and others told me similar thoughts, that something important was happening for those of us who were there. Somehow we were all being changed.
And, sometimes, change is a good thing!
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The conference CD’s will be on sale for $97 for about two more weeks. Then they return to their normal price of $147, so if you would like a set and are in a position to get them now, I highly recommend you take the leap while you can save $50 (over 33%). Click HERE to purchase, or HERE for a little more information about the conference.
