LifE
Or, lessons on life, compliments of Learning Express (LE).
So about 3 weeks ago, I was given a task: enter 3 spreadsheets of training into the system. The person who was maintaining these spreadsheets recorded only the first name and last initial of the learner. This wasn't a huge problem, because there is a search function in the system that allows us to search for incomplete names so long as we also enter their location. Since I knew the learner's first name, last initial, and their city, I thought I had everything down. So when I came across "Terry L", and cross referenced it with his location, the search yielded only one result and I was quite confident that I had the right guy. I gave him credit for the over 2 dozen courses he'd taken, and I crossed him off the list.
3 weeks later, I see another Terry L on the last spreadsheet of the 3, with no training listed. A little confused, I wrote it off as a mistake, since the owner of these spreadsheets isn't exactly the most accurate person in the world (come on, you don't give someone a list of first names and last initials expecting them to know who you're talking about, when they clearly aren't familiar with these people). So I finish my grueling task and send the owner a thorough summary of all the work that I've done: which courses were entered, the FULL names of the people I gave credit to, and the incomplete names of the people who didn't have any training listed.
I get an email back, saying "Gee I hope you gave credit to the right Terry L. There are two of them. Sorry I didn't give you the full name! Was it Terry L*** or Terry L****?" I got this seed of dread in my stomach and I went in to the system to check if there were indeed two Terry Ls from that location...and there were. Why hadn't it come up in my first search? After much rooting around, I found that the real Terry L's location was put in incorrectly, so it didn't come up in the search. Crud. There goes all my work, down the drain.
This means that I had to go in to the other Terry L's transcript, delete everything I'd entered, and go into the correct Terry L's account and give him credit all over again. No problem, right? Everything's resolved.
But not quite...
You see, even though their transcripts are accurate now, poor Terry L (the wrong one) will have to deal with his certifications (another function offered by the system) being all screwy for the next 3 years (because certifications drive off of the dates that are in the transcript and continue to do so even if the transcript changes - and we can't do anything about it). All his certifications now have the wrong dates because of what was originally entered, and can't be fixed, so they'll be out of whack until they expire in 3 years and a new certification kicks in. But what am I really trying to say?
Well, it strikes me that there is a deeper parallel that can be drawn. Sometimes, when we screw up, things can't be completely fixed. When we sin, it doesn't always make the consequences go away. We can repent, and rightly should, and we can mend what we can and make sure not to trip up again, but we must still bear the natural repercussions of our actions. It isn't that God hasn't forgiven us, or that what we have done is unforgivable, but that every action has a reaction, and that is just the way life works. We must be cautious as we consider our options, and responsible for the decisions we make.
Nothing too profound today, but just a random thought that hit me as I finish up another long day at work. Over and out.
So about 3 weeks ago, I was given a task: enter 3 spreadsheets of training into the system. The person who was maintaining these spreadsheets recorded only the first name and last initial of the learner. This wasn't a huge problem, because there is a search function in the system that allows us to search for incomplete names so long as we also enter their location. Since I knew the learner's first name, last initial, and their city, I thought I had everything down. So when I came across "Terry L", and cross referenced it with his location, the search yielded only one result and I was quite confident that I had the right guy. I gave him credit for the over 2 dozen courses he'd taken, and I crossed him off the list.
3 weeks later, I see another Terry L on the last spreadsheet of the 3, with no training listed. A little confused, I wrote it off as a mistake, since the owner of these spreadsheets isn't exactly the most accurate person in the world (come on, you don't give someone a list of first names and last initials expecting them to know who you're talking about, when they clearly aren't familiar with these people). So I finish my grueling task and send the owner a thorough summary of all the work that I've done: which courses were entered, the FULL names of the people I gave credit to, and the incomplete names of the people who didn't have any training listed.
I get an email back, saying "Gee I hope you gave credit to the right Terry L. There are two of them. Sorry I didn't give you the full name! Was it Terry L*** or Terry L****?" I got this seed of dread in my stomach and I went in to the system to check if there were indeed two Terry Ls from that location...and there were. Why hadn't it come up in my first search? After much rooting around, I found that the real Terry L's location was put in incorrectly, so it didn't come up in the search. Crud. There goes all my work, down the drain.
This means that I had to go in to the other Terry L's transcript, delete everything I'd entered, and go into the correct Terry L's account and give him credit all over again. No problem, right? Everything's resolved.
But not quite...
You see, even though their transcripts are accurate now, poor Terry L (the wrong one) will have to deal with his certifications (another function offered by the system) being all screwy for the next 3 years (because certifications drive off of the dates that are in the transcript and continue to do so even if the transcript changes - and we can't do anything about it). All his certifications now have the wrong dates because of what was originally entered, and can't be fixed, so they'll be out of whack until they expire in 3 years and a new certification kicks in. But what am I really trying to say?
Well, it strikes me that there is a deeper parallel that can be drawn. Sometimes, when we screw up, things can't be completely fixed. When we sin, it doesn't always make the consequences go away. We can repent, and rightly should, and we can mend what we can and make sure not to trip up again, but we must still bear the natural repercussions of our actions. It isn't that God hasn't forgiven us, or that what we have done is unforgivable, but that every action has a reaction, and that is just the way life works. We must be cautious as we consider our options, and responsible for the decisions we make.
Nothing too profound today, but just a random thought that hit me as I finish up another long day at work. Over and out.