Fall Staff Conference

I'm writing from Campus Crusade's Fall Staff Conference in Black Mountain, NC. This weekend provides a chance for all staff in the Mid-South Region (NC, SC, TN, KY, WV) to come together for a weekend of fellowship and refreshment.

For me, it's been a weekend of realization of how the Lord has changed how I gain my energy over the past few years. When I was in college @ App State I LOVED being around people. The more the merrier I said! I was the emcee of our roughly 500+ movement of Campus Crusade students there. I loved organizing parties... two of my favs were the "Were you cool in middle school?" and our vogue party (which included a photoshoot area). I considered the event a success if there were more people there than the previous party. I was the perfect example of a social butterfly. Spending no more than 3-5 minutes with each person at the party.

Then I went to Sweden on STINT for 2 years with Crusade. There I was introduced to my introverted self. Better yet my deeper self. In Sweden, the ministry was completely relational. Building friendships with students and spending literally 2-4 hours with them a day... in a coffee shop... talking about deep things. I had never done that... I retaliated at first... usually in the form of bathroom breaks and coffee refills to take a break. Slowly, I found myself loving these conversations.

As I've been in the US for over a year now, I've found it true here as well. I would so much rather spend a long amount of time with one person in great real conversation than surface conversation with many folks. I gain my energy through individuals not groups. Now we don't have to talk theology the whole time... there's lots of laughter... I especially love the people in my life I can just sit in a room with in silence and just enjoy their company.

Through this process I've leared two things:
*I enjoy really knowing people... one on one or small groups... cooking dinner, grabbing coffee... that's where my refreshment comes from.
*I used to be afraid to go deep with folks... to be known by them.... yeah vulnerability is a scary thing (still is at times).... but so worth it. That's why I did the social butterfly thing for so long.... talk a few minutes... let people think everything's great... but no investment.

It's fun to step back at this conference and realize how I've changed in just a few years.

I love self discovery :)