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Happy New Year!!
(And what a year it will be ...)
Urbana. Was. Amazing. Wow. Just amazing. The speakers, the seminars, the intensity, the focus ... Egads.
St. Louis is a beautiful, sad city. The most gorgeous buildings go empty and fall into disrepair; the old historic sites are abandoned and "airy." It was fun to walk around in the downtown area, but eerie all the same ... So few cars, so few people ... It felt so empty. There is talk of a revival in the downtown district, and I hope that it's true. So much of that beauty is going to waste -- one of the truest shames.
The craziness was centered around the convention itself. Just to give you an idea of how things went:
6:00AM -- The hotel starts serving breakfast. Our particular hotel had an awesome continental breakfast.
7:40AM -- Load the buses and head for the Edward Jones Dome and America's Center in downtown St. Louis.
8:30-10:00AM -- Morning Bible study with our family groups.
10:30AM -- Morning plenary session. Music, Bible exposition, etc., all with 22,000 other people.
12:30PM -- Break for lunch. Now the hordes are released on St. Louis ...
2:00-3:30PM -- First seminar or community activity, depending on the day.
4:00-5:30PM -- Second seminar or community activity, depending on the day.
5:30-7:30PM -- Supper, served by the Dome. Yeah. Again with the hordes, only this time we're all eating in the same place ... They had us divided up into four different half-hour groups, and actually it worked really well.
7:30PM -- Evening plenary session. More (awesome) music, a couple of speakers, some drama, some dance ... Good stuff.
Sometime after 9:00PM -- Load the buses and head back to the hotel for evening prayer with our family groups.
Yeah. They kept us moving all week long.
Each day something special happened, whether it was a meal, a particular speaker (for instance, Rick Warren spoke one day), an odd happening ... One day, I witnessed a proposal in the Union Station food court. Another day (a day focused on the AIDS epidemic), we got a surprise video visit from Bono himself (at which point I had my first real jaw-dropping celebrity awe moment -- I love U2, and I have a large amount of respect for Bono, who was an activist before it was cool) ... I didn't sleep much, ate whenever I could (not terribly often), and learned the meaning of "Pace yourself!" I was taught, lectured to, listened to, shocked, appalled, amused, and loved. Most of all, I thought. And thought and thought and thought.
Most of you know that I have been puzzling over what to do next with my life, and for the most part I've been quiet on here about the possibilities (this is, after all, the internet). To clear things up a bit, I'm considering two main avenues: a missions-type job in Russia, or a traditional chemical engineering job in the States. Within the next two weeks, I'll likely know the path of the next five years of my life.
Crazy, hm?
In the meantime, I'm enjoying getting caught up with friends in Sioux Falls, most of whom I haven't seen in several months. I may be here for awhile; then again, I might leave again in a couple of weeks. The uncertainty is strange and new, and I'm not totally convinced I like it (although the freedom behind it is somewhat refreshing). Suppose we'll see, eh?
I should probably get moving again, but have a great weekend, everybody!
Look at your face
Doesn't shine the way it used to
Look at your eyes
They don't sparkle anymore ...
I...I'm starting over
I...I'm starting over
-Audio Adrenaline, "Starting Over"
(And what a year it will be ...)
Urbana. Was. Amazing. Wow. Just amazing. The speakers, the seminars, the intensity, the focus ... Egads.
St. Louis is a beautiful, sad city. The most gorgeous buildings go empty and fall into disrepair; the old historic sites are abandoned and "airy." It was fun to walk around in the downtown area, but eerie all the same ... So few cars, so few people ... It felt so empty. There is talk of a revival in the downtown district, and I hope that it's true. So much of that beauty is going to waste -- one of the truest shames.
The craziness was centered around the convention itself. Just to give you an idea of how things went:
6:00AM -- The hotel starts serving breakfast. Our particular hotel had an awesome continental breakfast.
7:40AM -- Load the buses and head for the Edward Jones Dome and America's Center in downtown St. Louis.
8:30-10:00AM -- Morning Bible study with our family groups.
10:30AM -- Morning plenary session. Music, Bible exposition, etc., all with 22,000 other people.
12:30PM -- Break for lunch. Now the hordes are released on St. Louis ...
2:00-3:30PM -- First seminar or community activity, depending on the day.
4:00-5:30PM -- Second seminar or community activity, depending on the day.
5:30-7:30PM -- Supper, served by the Dome. Yeah. Again with the hordes, only this time we're all eating in the same place ... They had us divided up into four different half-hour groups, and actually it worked really well.
7:30PM -- Evening plenary session. More (awesome) music, a couple of speakers, some drama, some dance ... Good stuff.
Sometime after 9:00PM -- Load the buses and head back to the hotel for evening prayer with our family groups.
Yeah. They kept us moving all week long.
Each day something special happened, whether it was a meal, a particular speaker (for instance, Rick Warren spoke one day), an odd happening ... One day, I witnessed a proposal in the Union Station food court. Another day (a day focused on the AIDS epidemic), we got a surprise video visit from Bono himself (at which point I had my first real jaw-dropping celebrity awe moment -- I love U2, and I have a large amount of respect for Bono, who was an activist before it was cool) ... I didn't sleep much, ate whenever I could (not terribly often), and learned the meaning of "Pace yourself!" I was taught, lectured to, listened to, shocked, appalled, amused, and loved. Most of all, I thought. And thought and thought and thought.
Most of you know that I have been puzzling over what to do next with my life, and for the most part I've been quiet on here about the possibilities (this is, after all, the internet). To clear things up a bit, I'm considering two main avenues: a missions-type job in Russia, or a traditional chemical engineering job in the States. Within the next two weeks, I'll likely know the path of the next five years of my life.
Crazy, hm?
In the meantime, I'm enjoying getting caught up with friends in Sioux Falls, most of whom I haven't seen in several months. I may be here for awhile; then again, I might leave again in a couple of weeks. The uncertainty is strange and new, and I'm not totally convinced I like it (although the freedom behind it is somewhat refreshing). Suppose we'll see, eh?
I should probably get moving again, but have a great weekend, everybody!
Look at your face
Doesn't shine the way it used to
Look at your eyes
They don't sparkle anymore ...
I...I'm starting over
I...I'm starting over
-Audio Adrenaline, "Starting Over"
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