Compel and Delight
This weekend I had the priveledge of attending an annual conference that is called Compel. I think this is the 6th year I have gone....with my mom. Each year there is a different theme and speaker. My dear friend Jen is the chairperson/leader of the conference. This year, the theme was Look Up....and the speaker was Jennifer Rothchild.....look her up, people. She is amazing. We went last night for the evening session, slept in the hotel and then the conference continued until about 1pm. I was inspired, and convicted, and filled and blessed and challenged. Throughout the past 24 hours I think I had at least 2 dozen ideas for blogs......based on what I heard and saw and experienced.....so I came loaded with ammunition.
Roger had all the kids with him at a basketball tournament out of town. I was quietly excited about the prospect of a few hours of cleaning before they came home, so when I got home I cranked up the music (Pentatonix.....my new fav) and danced with the dogs....and started to clean and clean.....and after a couple of hours, I decided to sit down and take a break and blog a bit. I got a cool drink, put my feet up, scratched the puppy's ears and opened my laptop......and then the dogs raced to the door barking....because the family was arriving.
I had literally just started typing....with creative juices flowing.....and ka-bam!
My little kiddos needed lots of love and physical attention after 24 hours away from mom....dad needed a few moments to breathe alone....Jeremiah needed a hug and Claire needed me to see her shopping purchases (homecoming court for freshman class -eek!) and have a hug and a breath together.....so the computer was set aside....dinner was plated.....and mom was back in business. I can be a thinker, a pray-er, a writer, a philosopher, a friend and confidante......for a few hours....and then the family rings the bell to summon me back.
Briefly....and for the first Compel reflection: I give you this.
Today, I made friends with Delight. I stood in front of a great cloud of witnesses, over 300 women who were chasing after the Lord. I asked them to join me in prayer, and to come up to the microphone and share a Word, or a scripture or a prayer with us...and Delight came first. Delight was beautiful and had a deep and resonate voice and she prayed with authority.....and I agreed with her even when I didn't understand her African dialect.....later, I found her to talk a bit more. Delight is a nurse in Nigeria with a husband and 2 daughters. Delight is studying nursing here in the US because she feels that God has work for her here....we talked just long enough to become friends and to purpose ourselves to stay connected. By the way.....her birth name is something else. In her culture, when you marry, your husband gets to choose a new middle name for you. Her groom chose to call her Delight. Can you imagine it? I would love to have my husband give me a middle name. I don't have a middle name, actually. I would like one.....but to trust him to give me a name that would cast a vision for my future.....and give a clean understanding of who I am......that is something.
Her husband, on their wedding day....named her Delight. I want to know her better.
Today. I became friends with Delight. How about you? Who did you become friends with? Misery? Self-pity? Jealousy? Sorrow? Loathing? Hope? Truth? Peace? Contentment?Ambivalence? Avoidance?Acceptance? Silence? .......well. I made friends with Delight. :)
Roger had all the kids with him at a basketball tournament out of town. I was quietly excited about the prospect of a few hours of cleaning before they came home, so when I got home I cranked up the music (Pentatonix.....my new fav) and danced with the dogs....and started to clean and clean.....and after a couple of hours, I decided to sit down and take a break and blog a bit. I got a cool drink, put my feet up, scratched the puppy's ears and opened my laptop......and then the dogs raced to the door barking....because the family was arriving.
I had literally just started typing....with creative juices flowing.....and ka-bam!
My little kiddos needed lots of love and physical attention after 24 hours away from mom....dad needed a few moments to breathe alone....Jeremiah needed a hug and Claire needed me to see her shopping purchases (homecoming court for freshman class -eek!) and have a hug and a breath together.....so the computer was set aside....dinner was plated.....and mom was back in business. I can be a thinker, a pray-er, a writer, a philosopher, a friend and confidante......for a few hours....and then the family rings the bell to summon me back.
Briefly....and for the first Compel reflection: I give you this.
Today, I made friends with Delight. I stood in front of a great cloud of witnesses, over 300 women who were chasing after the Lord. I asked them to join me in prayer, and to come up to the microphone and share a Word, or a scripture or a prayer with us...and Delight came first. Delight was beautiful and had a deep and resonate voice and she prayed with authority.....and I agreed with her even when I didn't understand her African dialect.....later, I found her to talk a bit more. Delight is a nurse in Nigeria with a husband and 2 daughters. Delight is studying nursing here in the US because she feels that God has work for her here....we talked just long enough to become friends and to purpose ourselves to stay connected. By the way.....her birth name is something else. In her culture, when you marry, your husband gets to choose a new middle name for you. Her groom chose to call her Delight. Can you imagine it? I would love to have my husband give me a middle name. I don't have a middle name, actually. I would like one.....but to trust him to give me a name that would cast a vision for my future.....and give a clean understanding of who I am......that is something.
Her husband, on their wedding day....named her Delight. I want to know her better.
Today. I became friends with Delight. How about you? Who did you become friends with? Misery? Self-pity? Jealousy? Sorrow? Loathing? Hope? Truth? Peace? Contentment?Ambivalence? Avoidance?Acceptance? Silence? .......well. I made friends with Delight. :)
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