My first real job out of college was in Orange County, California. It was a start up educational company whose primary focus was to run after-school academic enrichment activities for kids 4 to 14.
The company wasn't exactly rolling in the dough. It wasn’t like they were going to fly a recent random Baylor grad all the way from Texas to sunny SoCal for the interview. Nevertheless, I managed to get a phone interview and into a second round in-person interview. It all went swimmingly and was well worth paying for my own flight. The job was a great fit. It was a combination of sales, marketing, management, and education, and I learned so much from those years that I spent running educational centers for Score!, whether it was literally pulling families in from the sidewalk or tutoring a dozen kids on different subjects all at the same time.
By the way, the story is going somewhere. 
Kids at Score! worked on a computer-adaptive curriculum that assessed their reading, math, and spelling skills, among other things. The more capable the student, the more challenging the lessons. Many of these kids were making A’s in school, so in some cases, even for the first time, they would experience adversity in an academic setting. They would encounter concepts at Score! they had not yet studied. One way that we, the coaches, helped them overcome these academic challenges was by setting goals with them. 
Like I said, the story is going somewhere.
In every Score! center there was a large wooden mountain (about 5' x 12'), with thin slats where you could affix a plastic mountain climber. Every kid started with a bronze climber at the very bottom of this mountain, and at the end of every session, they move their climber with one of their academic coaches. We did fun stuff between lessons like shooting baskets for scorecards, which they could then redeem for prizes, but moving the mountain climber was a vital part of their visit. 
Academic coach handing out a Score! card.
At any rate, it wasn’t always a smooth process helping these kids tackle academic challenges though. Kids got frustrated, scared. Many a tear was shed when for the first time a fourth grader might see a division problem or a spelling ace moved up a grade level on the software. ("Adam, what is a bureaucracy? How am I supposed to spell that?") It was during those times, when the tears started flowing and they turned their back’s on their computer terminals, that I would sometimes take them over to the mountain. 
We would stand in front of the mountain. Their eyes would fix on their climber, wedged tightly to its spot. I would tell them, “ You see how your climber is on a pretty steep part of the mountain right now? Well, look what happens just a few steps farther.” The kid - let's call her Donna - would start looking beyond her spot on the mountain and a few steps up, where there was a drop off before the climber started ascending again. 
“It gets easier over there,” she would say. 
“That’s right, Donna," I'd say, "and then it will get a little harder again later on. So let’s go back over there and finish this lesson. Then we will move your climber. I can’t promise you it’s going to get easy right away, but remember, we’re almost over that hill. And guess what? When you get over that hill, you’ll know you can get over the next one, too. No bureaucrat will be able to stand in your way.”  :)
It was really fun to coach kids on how to conquer challenges - and in my classroom today it still is! - but it’s not always fun to be the climber on the ascent. 
It’s equally scary on real mountains, too. I know this from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro years ago: on our nighttime ascent of the summit, my water system froze, leaving me dehydrated and disoriented, on the edge of altitude sickness. Scared, disoriented, in awe of the majestic sunrise, it took a very savvy Tanzanian guide to get me up and moving to reach the summit. I wouldn’t have summited without  him, and I wouldn’t trade that late night and early dawn of confusion and exhaustion for the world. This is a much longer story that involves hallucinations, grape juice, prayer, and U2. Maybe one day I will tell you. 
But for now...
Here’s where the story has been going.
The mountain is the curve. As I type this, Covid19 cases are multiplying throughout our nation and around the world, and we know that even with social distancing, there are many multiples more that have yet to be identified. We are headed uphill, and it’s going to get steeper, much steeper for some of us, whether it’s a lost job, lost income, family strife, or a threat to our health.
However, and this is something that comforts me, though the curve might get steep, there will be a leveling, and then a fall. This steep section might last days, weeks, months. There may be times where each of us will fear what that might mean for us personally, for our family, for our city, state, nation, or world. And in this moment and at this time, I remember standing in front of two very different mountains: the one where I’m helping a child face a challenge for the first time, and the other where I’m crumpled and gasping for oxygen, wondering how my friends are continuing on. In both cases, there’s a good guide pointing farther up the mountain to where things level off. And then also, I see a third mountain, beyond which I will meet my savior face to face. 
Now the story is almost over, and remember, there was a time when you didn't know how it would end.
Wherever you find yourself on the curve tonight:1. Take heart. Remember the slopes you've already climbed. 2. Encourage each other. We won’t get there without coaching each other along the way. 3. Flatten the curve. Make sure your friends and family do the same. We all have a say - and a stake - in how steep the curve becomes.
Love, Adam 
Ways to sustain your community if you have income right now: (+)
*subscribe to your local newspaper*order books through your local independent bookstore*order coffee by the pound from your coffee shop *join a CSA*donate to a food bank *donate any supplies you realize you're hoarding*tip well when ordering in* Buy a CD, download or t-shirt from a local musician or band* Give blood*Contact your local bureaucrat to keep things moving in the right direction :)
(+) Most of these ideas taken from a popular twitter feed. 
Our last view of Mount Kilimanjaro, peeking through the clouds.
PS - I am still writing Tully Book Four. :)