Making donuts and selling oil

"Time to make the donuts!"

If you follow me on Facebook, you've probably seen me post that line at one time or another.  A church friend who follows me on Facebook recently asked, "Who do you make donuts for?"

After I finished laughing, I explained, and here's an expanded explanation of what I do when I "make donuts".

I proofread deposition transcripts for civil cases.  I work from home.  The people I work for are a court reporting firm in another state.  Most of the transcripts they send me and that I proof are along the lines of auto accidents, malpractice suits, workman's comp, and the like.  The shortest transcript I've proofed is about nine pages.  The longest has been over 300 pages.  I don't think I've gotten to 400 pages yet.

Because of the nature of the work, most of the assignments I get have a next-day turnaround time.  I often feel like Sam the Baker in this Dunkin' Donuts commercial, especially at the end where he is meeting himself coming and going.  So when I was ready to go to work, I started posting on Facebook, "Time to make the donuts!" 

(In fairness to the people that run the firm I work for, I imagine they often feel like Sam the Baker as well.  And the woman in charge now has infant twins.  She probably feels like she is constantly "making donuts" in a sense.) 

A Facebook friend who has also been in the court reporting industry led me to this job after I talked about the student loan debt I'd run up being in court reporting school.  After I told the person in charge who I was, who'd suggested me, and my school experience, she started sending me work.  I work as an independent contractor and therefore, I get to report my earnings to the IRS every tax year.  (And if I am ever tempted to cheat, there are two things that will stop me:  One, Romans 13:6-7 commands us to pay our taxes.  Two, I am married to an IRS employee.) 

When I get paid, I look at the amount and drool, "Oooh, money!"

Then I think of the student loan debt and groan, "Ohhh, bills." 

Then I remember another Bible verse, Romans 13:8:  "Let no debt remain outstanding." 

And then I go to the Wells Fargo website and pay the bill due. :-) 

In addition to making donuts, there's another metaphor that applies to the work I'm doing right now and why I'm doing it.

In 2 Kings 4, the Bible tells the story of a widow who cried out to the prophet Elisha that her husband's creditor was coming to take her two sons as slaves in payment of a debt he owed. 

Elisha asked, what do you have in your house?

She said, nothing but a small jar of olive oil. 

He told her to ask all her neighbors for empty jars -- a lot of empty jars, not just a few.  She was then to shut the door behind her and her sons, pour oil into all the jars, and set each aside as it was filled. 

She did that.  The oil kept flowing until she was out of jars. 

When she told Elisha what she'd done, he said, go, sell the oil and pay your debts.  You and your sons can live on what is left. 

God has not seen fit to rain down money from heaven.  But he has provided me with a way to "sell oil" and "fill jars".  The "oil" I sell is my skill as a proofreader.  The people I work for gladly fill my jars with work. :-) 

There are other "jars" that get filled due to the people I work for and the work I do.  My "jar" gets filled with money, and then that "jar" gets emptied into the bank account of the United States Department of Education.  (I sometimes think that that jar is more like a bottomless pit, but that may be another blog post for another day.) 

Because people have legal needs, and those needs must be documented, there will always be a cycle of "jars" to be filled:  depositions that generate transcripts, then transcripts that go to scopists (the people that edit them), then edited transcripts that go to proofers, and then proofed transcripts that go back to the lawyers. 

On the days I feel like Sam the Baker, I also try to remember that in a sense, I am a "widow" with "jars full of oil" that I can sell to pay off debts.

So, next time you see me post about "making donuts", not only am I making donuts, I am also filling jars with oil in order to sell.  And for that, I am grateful.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.