When we first came to Children’s Homes and Mark began teaching in the Balcom Learning Center, he learned a new phrase: “Monitor and adjust.” Any time he asked somebody about something that changed suddenly, they would reply, “Monitor and adjust.” For a while I didn’t quite understand what that was supposed to mean. As time has gone on, I’ve begun to see what it means. Basically, it’s “Figure out what’s going on and then figure out how to work it out.” If half your class is out sick and you are supposed to give a test tomorrow, monitor and adjust. If you didn’t get the books you need to teach a topic, monitor and adjust. Assess the situation and find a new way to reach the goal.
As I’ve come to understand the phrase, I’ve begun to see how it applies to everything we do here – and, really, all of life. When you have a child home from school sick and another child has an appointment, you have to find a way to work it out. Is another housemom home who could watch the sick one? Is the sick one contagious or could she sit in the waiting room with you? Is the appointment urgent or could it be rescheduled? Don’t we all do this every day? We monitor and adjust. Just when we have a plan, something happens that we weren’t expecting and we come up with a new plan that fits the new situation.
The great thing about learning to “monitor and adjust” around here is how much help is available. If I have a conflict like the one with the sick kid, there’s a caseworker or another housemom or supervisor who is willing to help cover the situation. Someone may volunteer to take the one with the appointment or someone will care for the sick one. Sometimes when a housemom has a crisis, we’ll divide up her kids among several cottages to free her up. People have given up time off to help out when someone needs it. People have restructured their whole day or even week to give someone else the flexibility needed to get through a situation. The priority is making sure the kids are cared for and watching out for each other. I’ve seen this more than once on this campus and I’ve been on both sides of the help. It’s a great feeling to know that so many people are working together here to fulfill a ministry and everybody is ready to “monitor and adjust” to get it done.













