Time flies when you're having fun...

Greetings!

I find it hard to believe that break is about over. It seems as if we just got out of school for break. Fortunately, we return back to work tomorrow, but it's pretty much a workday in our classrooms, so it will be a fun day. Granted, you get a bunch of teachers together who don't have kids nearby and we typically talk more than we work, but it will be a good transition back into the real world.

I have been off-line for quite a while as you can tell. I traveled to the parental unit's house, and had a great time. They also have two really neat dogs, so it was a good trip all the way around.

Then Laura flew in, and we did a "24" Marathon. Yeah, it's crazy how you can get addicted to a TV show. My parents had the DVD set, and we did about 14 episodes in a day and a half. It was a lot of fun. My parents joined us when they weren't working and we all yelled at the TV together. It was a hoot. My favorite line of it all was when Laura and I took a break to go buy food for the conference and out of nowhere she said, "She killed her fiance!" Of course, she was referring to the most recent episode of 24 that we had been watching, but it made me laugh. We had a great time.

We arrived in KC on Friday for the conference. We were both extremely excited. It was a great conference. Then again, I'm not sure you could be with God for four days straight and not think it was incredible.

We stayed at a hotel within walking distance of the conference, which was a gift. I would literally go to the conference, go back to the hotel long enough to eat, and then go back to the conference. They had the prayer room open during the conference, so even if there weren't sessions going on, you could go sit in the prayer room. Other than sleeping and eating, I was at the conference...it was great!

Having Laura beside me was a gift. We were both there for God, but I have to admit, God uses Laura in special ways in my life. And the thing that really amazes me about Laura and me is that we laugh ALL THE TIME! Laura brings out the best version of me, and it was incredibly cool to have a strong, Godly friend to walk beside me during the conference. There would be moments in services where she would just start praying for me. While I wouldn't know it at the time, she would tell me later that she was praying for me during a specific point in the service and that is worth more than all the money in the world to me! Having a praying friend is a gift from God, and I look back on the conference now, and am enormously blessed that she is in my life. She's been a real answer to prayer...

Each day held something new and different for me, and I am constantly in awe of how God never does things the same way twice. Every year I go into the conference thinking that it will be the same as the year before, and it is never the same thing twice. God's not a boring God like that. He likes to challenge us and love on us in completely new and exciting ways!

God used me in ways I had never been used before to bless his children. There were several services where I got to pray for people I had never met before, and it changed both of us in the process. It was very, very cool.

I also had fun on one day because Jason Upton led worship in the morning, and Allen Hood led two back to back seminars, and then he spoke that evening at service. Allen Hood is a very strong man of God and God has used him repeatedly in my life without Allen even knowing it. It was pretty much my ideal day. :-)

Misty Edwards led worship several times throughout the conference, and she was a really big highlight as well. She is my all-time favorite worship leader, so it was a blessing to get to be in services where she led worship. I connect with God on a real heart level when she leads, so I was changed again and again throughout the weekend.

On the last day they had "The Call". We did twelve hours straight of praise, worship, and prayer. It was pretty much my idea of an ideal day for me. That morning before The Call, Becky Tirabassi spoke. I had never heard of this person, so I had no idea of what to expect. She was incredible. I hope I can be 50 years old and still have a passion for God like she does. She inspired me in a way noone has inspired me in a long time. It was really cool.

New Years Eve Misty's team led worship again, which blessed me and then Jason Upton led us into 2008. It was a wonderful way to enter in to 2008.

So, I'm changed. I feel different. I want to keep this feeling. I know it's hard to do that though. I'm about to enter into the real world again. I'm about to walk back into the world of abused and neglected kids, and people who think I'm borderline insane for enjoying a prayer room as much as I do.

I do know it was fun to pretend for four days that the real world doesn't exist and I was surrounded by people who have a passion for God just as I do. That conference always amazes me because you look around during worship and people are serious about God and seeking Him. I feel a bit less alone at the moment because I don't feel like I'm this odd ball on an island seeking after what I know is true.

So, for four days I was in my ideal world.

Only 359 days until I do it all over again...

Happy New Year!