I’m going to share a bit of what God did in my heart at this conference, but some of it is too personal, or too confidential (as some involves others in my life). First though, pop over to Sharon Ball’s
A Break from the Norm for an author spotlight. You might be interested in how long it takes me to write a book. Though Sharon and I met at the conference, we neglected to get a picture together. Pretty unbelievable since I feel like I came home with 500 pictures!
By the last day of the conference, everyone was pretty much wiped out. The altitude sickness, manifesting in dizziness, hit Mom and I much more often by this point. After the awards banquet, while still dressed in my pink princess gown, I helped tear down a bit of the bookstore. I went up to the room a little before midnight because I had to post the blog tour link for that day, but I heard that Cara Putnam stayed until 3 AM. Her sister, Janna. and their mom worked until 4 or so. That’s dedication. And success. Under their leadership, the bookstore took in $23,000 in four days with 530ish conferees. Wowsers!
Debbie Macomber gave a frank closing keynote and had words straight from God to me. It was truly uncanny. Things that had been going through my mind for months, things I had prayed about for that long, were expressly mentioned by Debbie with a concrete solution I had been ignoring as much as possible. Frankly, I’m facing doing a hard thing, something I dread doing, but know I need to.
Before she spoke, God connected me with a man who does short-term, writing-related mission trips to Liberia. I shared my recent life changes with him and he urged me to consider taking such a trip. And you know what? I could! The whole world is open to me. To all of us!
I had become so focused on being the stay-at-home mom, the good wife, and the writer it’s as if I forgot there’s a whole big world out there. Being in Denver took me out of the close-minded mentality and gave me more of a global perspective.
Aunt Judy and Uncle George picked us up from the hotel. After a delicious lunch at a Greek restaurant, we headed to the hospital to visit my aunt’s cousin who was in the hospital. I’m fairly sure I had met these relatives when I was 15 at a reunion in Kansas, but it was wonderful to re-meet Betty and Larry. Larry might have suffered a stroke and I pray for his quick recovery, but it was a beautiful thing to watch Betty advocate for her husband’s care.
Can’t forget to mention this: my aunt gets the Aunt of the Year Award. She bought EIGHTEEN copies of The Familiar Stranger to give as Christmas gifts. It took me almost ten minutes just to autograph them all!
Aunt Judy is a master at keeping extended family connected–something I’m not to good at. She had even gotten her hands on a copy of “Cousin” Larry’s yearbook, so we talked about his football and choir and basketball and yearbook editor position. Larry was on almost every page of the yearbook in his young, strong glory. A stark contrast to his weakened body in a wheelchair, but perhaps also a faint echo of the strong body that awaits him in heaven. (Hopefully many years from now!)
We met up with Randy Ingermanson, Christina Nelson, Chip MacGregor, and Patty Slack at the airport. Made for great conversation, despite our fried brains!
As we flew out of a rainy Denver, I caught this rainbow out the window of the plane …
Considering all the epiphanies I had from God at this conference, I really did feel the rainbow was His promise of the good things to come. That my life is not heading toward more disaster, but away from it.
As we flew into the sunset of Portland, I felt like I was headed toward a new adventure. Unknown and innumerable opportunities await. I can hardly wait to see what God will do in my life and those of my loved ones.
In that spirit, I offer this video of a song that spoke far more than the simple lyrics into my soul. May it apply the same way to your life right now. Let’s not waste our waiting!
Ah, yes. Thank you for this song again. Very timely and true. 🙂
Awesome! Thank you for sharing all that with this sahm. 🙂 It’s good to remember that global perspective.
I hope your uncle recovers well.
This is a great post, honey. It’s so exciting to be along with you on the journey God is taking you on. You know I’ll back you all the way!!
Christina:
I thoroughly enjoyed the words of the song. I pray that God will use you in a mighty way.
That song is so universally powerful–I’m grateful it spoke to you all as well.
Funny how the words of a song can hit us all in the same, but different ways! Thanks for sharing !!
Christina, I’m still bummed that we somehow missed getting a picture together. Drat! But I’m so glad we met at the conference. 🙂