So I just returned from Woman of Faith and people keep asking... "So how was the conference?" I grin and smugly say... "I met Jen Hatmaker!" and some nod knowingly at my evident excitement and others say "Who?" and to those I say "Do you even know me?" Beside the above epic picture, this one was also taken.
To which I say that Christine Caine was talking about me when she explained her reasoning why she avoided women's conferences for years and stayed in youth ministry. That and "Don't wait, Urinate."
Ok, ok so back to the story. So I was standing in line and running over the five million things I'd like to say to Jen. Really, so many avenues to cover in my short 1 minute, meet and greet? Which one should I go with?
My admiration as an avid reader and wanna be writer? She weaves the story so well, keeping you laughing then leaving you pondering.
Laughing: Worst end of the year school mom ever
Not a fan
Pondering: The Christmas Conundrum
The adoptive parent side, where I give her a fist bump for keeping it real in all those blog posts? Her words have encouraged me many times. And then casually slip in..."So you think you could possibly perhaps guest post on my blog sometime, because that would be epic!?"
Encouraged:
Fighters
Keeping it real:
How to be the village
After the Airport
The truth about adoption: One Year Later
The truth about adoption: Two Years Later For us, this introduced a season of fear. Will they resent us? Will they blame us one day? Will they twist away from us with unresolved grief? Will they be healthy? Did we do the right thing? We’ve compounded their losses and it feels muddier now than it did on Day One. We are not getting this right, and it matters so much that we get this right.
Yeah, I just wrote about this... the fear... "You aint no leading lady"
Or should I convey a few things from the church leadership side of things?.... where I say I think your thoughts on the church are spot on and I am living much of your story a few chapters behind. "Interrupted" was practically a biography of my life these last two years. I get this... I get that God is doing a new thing. Just ask my friend Christie how uncanny it is. I'm telling you it is a God movement.
Or should I go with the "I love Africa" and orphans convo?.... where I thank her for the 7: experiment which was the perfect detox program when I returned to America. Then I tell her I briefly hated her during the month I gave up coffee. She did sign my 7: book so that is cool. It will go into my adoption time capsule.
The last one and the comment I should of went with.... "So anytime during this weekend, did God tell you to give your cute boots to a new friend? Because sometimes I know God has you give up your boots" Ha ha...
Did I say any of those? Well, in my defense I was totally thrown off when she asked me how to spell my name. I did not rehearse that.
So I wasted my few meet and greet moments with rambling that went something like this:
"I'm a fellow ap, adopted from the Congo, your cool, I'm the stalker in your in-box who e-mails you way too often just to get the thoughts out of my head"
Exit line thoughts: stupid oopid introverted idiot, for once could you please get the words from your head out your mouth?! But before I could hang my head I spot Mr. Brandon Hatmaker, just hanging out in the hallway. I read his book as well: "Barefoot Church" and so not wanting to miss an opportunity I walked over and asked why he wasn't selling his book at the conference? We talked church/adoption for a bit. My cool factor doubled.
So yeah, the Hatmakers and I are legit friends now. Just saying.
I texted my husband who endured the months of my 7 experiement and he laughingly wrote back: "Did they invite you to be on their reality TV show?"
No. No they didn't. But maybe someday they will call and invite us over for coffee and we can talk about church planting.
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