First thing I gotta do, post this video:
I’m not thrilled about the visuals (I like real, official music videos and not mere collages of photos, for the most part), but this is the ONLY YouTube recording I could find of this song: “Dreams I Dream For You,” by the group Avalon. It encapsulates everything this conference was for me … so listen in, and feel free to ignore the video. 🙂
Wednesday night had some amazing fellowship (and prayer) … and then I stayed awake talking to Kelly, who shared a room with me at Michelle’s, until almost 1:30 AM …
And I popped awake soon after 2 AM, from a really weird dream, and couldn’t get back to sleep until about 5. I woke up for good about 6.
I plotted story, I prayed for people as they came to mind, I argued a bit with God. I was ticked. Really ticked. I’d flown in a day early just so I’d be properly rested, etc. etc. etc. … and I knew this was God’s way of keeping me on my toes, properly dependent upon Him and His strength, because of course that’s more important than my perceptions of “rested.” Sigh.
Thursday, was registration and check-in day. After a leisurely breakfast at Michelle’s, we headed for the hotel and went through check in. At noon I’d be working the registraton desk, and was supposed to be there for a good two-three hours, but Michelle, being one of the local designated go-fers for agents and editors, asked me if I’d like to make an airport run with her to get Jeff Gerke and Kelly Mortimer. Think I’m going to pass that kind of opportunity up?? No way. We weren’t very busy at registration, so they let me go early when Michelle had to leave.
Off to the airport–wheeee! You aren’t allowed to pull up to the curb to wait on people, so we had to make this big mile-long loop out and back in to the terminal until Jeff got off his plane … another loop to pick up Kelly (they’d actually been on the same flight) … Michelle was glad I helped navigate, and I was glad of a chance to meet both Jeff and Kelly in an informal setting. Jeff I’d known online for a while, so it was fun telling him all the different connections we had (a submission he’d turned down, a recent Christian Fandom interview, blog tours, mutual friends, etc. etc. etc.).
We got back in time to sit in for the agent panel (at least part of it) and the early evening keynote address, by Angela Hunt. And her message was on dreams … how we all have them, how they aren’t necessarily the wrong dreams, but how God’s “dreams” for us are so much bigger and grander and more fulfilling than we could possibly think or imagine … and this song by Avalon, as if on cue, started going through my head. 🙂 It was already a favorite … and God just gave it added meaning.
By this time, some of the “grace” that upheld me all day was starting to fade, and Michelle and I decided to skip the editor panels and go back to her house for the night. I was a little sad about missing evening worship, but I didn’t think I could sit through another session without falling asleep (it was rough enough earlier). It was very nice having a couple of hours to talk and putter and decompress …
And at bedtime, I put on a worship CD by Chris Tomlin (courtesy of Michelle’s daughter Callie–I had her room) and slept beautifully, all night.
(to be continued!)
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