Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Update ...

Oops - I lost Tuesday...!

(Typing this at 12:05 AM, Wednesday.)

My blogging may be sketchy for the next couple of weeks ... got some traveling coming up. I'm hoping to purchase a used/refurbished laptop tomorrow (supposedly user-ready - jump on it and ride!), so that I can keep up with blogging and emails (I dread returning from a trip to 500+ emails!).

So, to catch y'all up on my gallavanting:

- On Thursday I leave for Baytown, Texas, near Houston. I've been asked to speak at a conference hosted by the Sojlander Road Fellowship ... a group of open-hearted folks who believe that all are saved, all is fulfilled, and all are one. Tim King is the keynote speaker, and he graciously gave up one of his time-slots so I could speak. My topic will be: "Jesus and The Christ -- how are they alike, and how are they distinct?" Or something like that. This is something I'm currently exploring ... it feels like THE BIGGIE...! Have put it off for some time now ... but I got cornered, and 'tis time. I confess to ya'll, that I feel out of my element ... I'm a stay-at-home mother-of-multitudes ... who thinks a lot and types fast, and blurts what comes to mind ... and asks pestiferous questions, and "Snope's" everything, and tries really hard to grasp the swirling notions that well, swirl around in the vast internal universe...! Who am I to "play with the big-boys?!?"

I've been preparing, but every time I get close to making an outline, I get nailed or derailed ... the sense I keep getting is that I am just to share my own story, my experience, and my questions. I'm not going there to give answers (sheesh - some of these folks have PHD's!) ... I'm there to invite questions ... to encourage folks to go to God with them. To LIVE the questions and EXPERIENCE the answers. Which will likely defy words, as all good answers tend to do...!

The conference is going to be both telecast and recorded ... so I sure hope I say something worth memorializing, LOL! If you want to sign up for the telecast, it may be too late, but check with Kevin Beck: kevin@presence.tv

Otherwise, here's their website -- and I'll be sure to link the recordings when I get them.

- I return Monday (as Mark leaves for a business trip - we'll share an hour in the airport, in passing - must try to not get arrested in doing so), and then I leave again next Thursday, for my first-ever board meeting of Presence, International, in Colorado. Can't WAIT to hear what Tim King has to share there...! If you've not been following his blog, Post-Christian, you'll want to, as he unpacks what transpired in the past two extraordinary trips to the Middle East (he just spent time there with Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne, among 17 others). Follow His blog HERE. I'll return that Sunday ... just in time to launch into a flurry of painting...!

Soooo, here's hoping that the laptop is a worthy investment, and that it's as user-friendly as the refurbishing-seller claims...!

Here's hoping I can continue blogging!

Shalom, Dena

3 comments:

Monica said...

Try very hard not to get arrested at the airport :) It can be tricky you know! And I've always found that very important speeches usually come from the heart and experience. I bet that even if you DID write an outline you'd walk up to the podium with it clenched in your fist and say "I wrote a speech, but I'm not going to read it!" Or something like that :) Be spontaneous! And don't be nervous. I'm sure the PhD types will learn from you. Anyone can teach and give new ideas to other people. You just can't be afraid to speak your mind!

Monica

cwtpmom said...

My comment vanished somewhere in cyberspace, but you can anticipate what I would have said. Things like: they wouldn't have asked you to speak to them if they weren't interested in your opinion on the subject, and they want to hear about your life experiences. My advice (of course) is don't try to bear testimony of Christ without the Spirit guiding you, because it won't carry. Jesus is the Christ.

Dena said...

Thanks, Monica, and Connie ...!

I get a wee bit nervous, but that's just part of the preparation (happened when I was in theatre, too). I thrive "up there". I love speaking out my heart, to whomever will listen...! And I love listening to the stories of others ... so much in common, under the surface-fluff.

It went very well ... largely "winged it" ... but kept looking at my notes, as there was much I longed to convey... I'll share the link when I get it -- it was video/audio taped.