GMH Conference Part II

The GMH Conference was incredible! I arrived Friday afternoon, and had already missed a day of the conference because of work. However, I was still blessed by the speakers and breakout sessions. Worship on Friday night was amazing! For the first time since returning from Kenya I felt like I was permitted to just let go. For so many weeks it has seem that I keep pushing through another day, week, just to keep going, not stopping to reflect or really work through my thoughts and feelings. I had been to this conference before in 2006. Returning to this conference after being on a mission trip gave me a different perspective and appreciation then before. The entire weekend was such a huge encouragement. I scrambled to write down notes from the speakers so that I could look back on them for future inspiration.

I was fortunate enough to run into a few familiar faces while at the conference. Tom, who also was on the Kenya team was there with his wife who is a physician. They are currently trying to decide where to do long term missions. Shaun, who was a classmate of mine in college was in attendance as well. He is in medical school now and is excited at the prospect of doing medical missions. My favorite part is meeting Paula, a nurse of 30+ years. We traded stories of missions work over Chik-Fil-A. Paula was such an encouragement to me and at the end of our conversation gave me a warm hug and welcomed me into nursing as a sister. What an unexpected blessing.

Some of the speaker topics included: Following God's Will, Surrender and Obedience to Him, and an assortment of missions information and stories from Steve Saint. I am already looking forward to next years conference.

GMH Conference

Having a great time listening to speakers and meeting new people. I'll write more about it later. This will have to do for now.

I guess since I am up this late anyway I might as well register for spring semester classes. Registration opens at 12am. On the list are: fundamentals of nursing (+ clinic), nursing care of adult client I (+ clinic), professional role socialization II, dosage calculation, pharmacology, and pathophysiology. Yeah, that looks like good time.

Encouraging

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.

I really enjoyed listening to this. By the end of the song I found myself singing along and just in awe of the passion that these artists displayed.

It doesn't feel real

It's hard to believe that I spent almost two weeks in Kenya. To me it doesn't seem like I was gone. Tomorrow I go back to work and that will be the true test as I adjust back to life. I've started updating the Kenya blog if you want to take a peak. It will be hard as the days pass to keep these two blogs separate. I really believe that each plays an important part in the other.

I have a midterm this Friday for school and I am starting to look at my class schedule options for next semester, though I don't have the energy for it right now. I will be taking another leap of faith here a in a few months by quitting work and going back to school full time. As the deadline gets closer my head wants to start backing away, but my heart stays strong and tells me to keep going.

In case you didn't know...

I have a blog for the mission trip I will be going on in September.  Creating Hope for Bondeni is listed on the right under my Labworthy Lessons.  The map above is that of Nairobi.  I got it from the CMF/Hope International website.  There you can read more about Bondeni and what will be waiting for me when I arrive.

When I was making the address for the blog, I must have been in a rush because I forgot the second "i" in mission.  If you do spell the address correctly you will go to a different blog that is about a team from Missions Hotline and their experience in Kenya.  It's worth a read if you're interested.

By nature I am an organizer and overseer, often laying the groundwork for new projects. Recently, I've had to take a major step in "releasing" projects that I've worked on for a number of years.  This endeavor has been met with resistance.  This is no surprise considering I am someone is who is wholly devoted and deeply loyal to whatever activity I am pursuing; especially if it assists another person or group.

However, having to hand over the reigns despite the best of intentions is never easy.  Suddenly I am not needed.  Questions and concerns are directed to a new leader; a position I once held. No longer am I "in the know" and at times I find myself answering with a blank stare because I don't know the answer.  I have free time that is available to me that was once filled with meetings, run-throughs, and brain storming sessions.  Mixed in there is a feeling of disappointment.  This is overwhelmingly directed toward the lack of appreciation for my efforts and the advancement of projects. Certainly, praise is not what drives my work ethic or ambition, but a genuine "Thank you" or recognition or encouragement of some sort would have been nice.  To be straightforward, there were many nights when I wondered if anyone even cared the slightest bit and times when I felt I was being used for what I could bring to the table. I often revitalized myself by remembering regardless of what people say or don't say I should only concern myself with what God says.  

So, I look at this as an opportunity for advancement.  Not only for me, but also for the new leaders in my place.  There is a time for everything and right now it's time for me to move on.