Thursday April 5, 2007

The ICEC conference is finally over, but it was so much more than I expected it to be.  It pushed me into some decidedly unfamiliar or uncomfortable (as in: comfort zone) territory, but it also ended up being a galvanizing and inspiring time for me.  My days were crazy-full: waking up EARLY to be at school at 7:50 a.m. to practice with an amazing worship team, leading worship twice a day, helping on the setup crew that prepared tables for 400 guests to eat lunch and supper in the decked-out gym, attending seminars, being interviewed by a video production team, etc.  And in the middle of all that activity, I received a top-secret job request from a stranger in the States that had me feeling very much like a hotshot private detective!  It was fun–in an “I can’t tell you about it or people dressed in fedoras and trench coats might have to kill me” kind of way.

Things I learned in the week since school let out?

– I love (read: cherish and relish) working with MKs.  There’s just no higher calling at this point in my life, given what my life has been and what my life’s purpose is.

– I know MKs…which is an odd statement from someone who is one.  But somewhere along the course of 16 years in this place, I think I began to forget why it was that I came for a year in 1991 and ended up staying until now.  I came because I felt I had something to offer, given the vantage point of a lifetime spent as the child of missionaries.  This conference offered conversations with friends and strangers that reminded me that I really do have a unique perspective as a survivor of the harsher realities of missions and a miraculously healed former walking-wounded.

– I need music.  It had been such a long time since I’d used my voice to lead others in worship, and I realized again, as I stood on stage with a group of talented musicians listening to 400 believers from around the world mingling their voices in praise to God that there are few moments in life when I commune more closely with my Creator than when I’m leading others to join me in praise.

– I chose my college major correctly!  Being involved even briefly with the video crew shooting promotional material for a DVD meant to recruit new ACSI teachers, I found adrenaline flowing down synapses it hadn’t reached in a while.  “Acting” in the reconstruction of a classroom lesson, answering tough questions during a personal interview, and paying attention simultaneously to form, content and appearance during several segments reminded me of the original reasons I chose Communications as a major!  I’m not directly involved in what I studied anymore (except for the massive informal communication relationships require), but it sure is nice to remember that I love what I studied and that what I studied is helping me love others.

– I require sleep.  AND, I’m pleased to say, it’s still cool enough at nights that I can cozy up to my comforter and purr.  And that, my friends, is one of the greatly overlooked luxuries of life! 

But in the midst of all of the conference busyness, I had the wonderful honor of meeting a young lady named, quite appropriately, Stargirl–and I can’t end this entry without introducing you to her!  She turned up at my apartment after one particularly tiring day and, along with her cohorts, created one of the funnest memories of this “break” so far!

There are several reasons she earned my respect.  The first is that she knows how to deal with the likes of my nemesis, Collin.  When he stepped a bit out of line, earlier that day, she let him know by sinking her pearly white teeth into his pasty white skin…and leaving a mark that was still there hours later!

And she further comforted my shredded self-esteem by proving that I’m not the only female who makes Taelyr convulse in utter fear and trepidation:

But I most enjoyed just observing Taelyrpan and Stargirl being together after too many months of separation.  I’d say more, but it’s pretty much indescribable.  Suffice it to say that being in the same room as them is a whimsical, joyful and ludic experience!  Kind of like the “Happy Feet” movie!

I can’t summarize that evening without making note of two other newcomers to my apartment.  Eliza is Collin’s surprisingly sane sister, and I’m pretty sure I detect a uniquely insightful and profound poet’s heart in her!  As for the redheaded cohort whose real name I can never remember, he now goes by the name of Lief–not sure why.  But it works and I remember it, so I’ll call it brilliant and let it rest!  He eats Jellybeans like nobody’s business, by the way.

And now?  Now I have a handful of days to recuperate before heading off to Italy for three days–and recuperation, in Michele’s world, looks something like this: