Lord, the week lies ahead of me.  All that I will do, I dedicate to you.

There are students and professors that I can serve.  People who are upset or stressed or overwhelmed, whose hostility and frustration levels are off the charts.  Lord, use me to bring them calm and help them refocus on the opportunities and tasks you have for them.

Be present with me.  Speak through me.

A new week begins.

I have the good fortune of being in a job where I mostly control my schedule.  I have deadlines, etc., but only a handful that I have no control over, and I can shape the timing of how I meet most of those.

The way I generally set up my calendar is that I have big meetings on Thursdays and Fridays.  That gives me whole weeks to push toward and prepare for my big meetings, my big deadlines.

The way I think of it: I like having Mondays to get my head together, to plan and think about the week.  And I like having my weekends to unpack and think through what happened with the big meetings on Fridays.

So: a new week begins.  One of my direct reports has a big deadline today, and I’m deeply involved in getting that proposal ready.  But mostly, today is about big projects that DON’T have immanent deadlines.  Today is about planning and getting ready for Tuesday – Thursday, which tend to be heavy on the interaction.