Convention season is over. As you would expect, I am exhausted.
My mind is marshmallow. My heart for the conventions is that I am there to serve and minister… And that I want to leave every ounce of myself “on the field.”
All three cities left me physically spent. But in Atlanta I made a special effort to open myself to time with attendees. As a result I did a lot of listening and praying with fellow youth workers. This has left me emotionally drained. I have so much going on in my mind, but it just won’t come out in written word.
The next few days I will be pretty absent. I just need to rest, think, pray, and be present with the most important people in my life.
Until then, my feet will be up, I am turning it off, and I will see you all again soon.
Finally!
That’s totally how I felt yesterday when the news came to me that we were making an announcement about the deal for Zondervan to sell YS to YouthWorks. (Here’s the link)
The last few weeks, since Marko’s departure, have been a roller coaster for me. The facts presented to the staff on that day were that Marko had been let go, the company was being sold… likely to YouthWorks. And beyond that.. that’s about all that was known!
It was a lot to take in. A lot to process. A lot of emotions to work through. And then a lot to stuff back in my head as I still had two conventions to work at plus a bunch of major projects nearing completion.
In a world of live everything– twitter, Facebook, blogs– there was simply no way for this news to stay completely out of the public eye. And of course my job was to keep an eye on all of that. There was so much to say while absolutely nothing appropriate for me to say… a pinch for “the online community dude.”
So the news is out. I am very happy the news is out. When I saw the presidents of Z and YW together yesterday I really hoped that the news would come out. It was a very exciting/somber (and a bunch more adjectives/adverbs) moment to be a part of. For me, the bottom line was that the news was getting out and that is good.
The people at YouthWorks are good people. (That’s been clear in the blogs/twitter/Facebook) The people at Zondervan are good people. (That hasn’t been clear, but trust me when I say that they are good people, too.)
Thanks to everyone who is praying for Kristen and I during this crazy time. For us personally more is unknown than known. I would only ask that you add the rest of the YS staff to your prayers, as well. Michelle, Mark M., Dave P., Jay, Donna, Dave C., Urb, Roni, Holli, Mandy, Tash, Ian, Lara, Brittany, Bethany, and Amy.
Now… this weekend isn’t about Youth Specialties, YouthWorks, Zondervan, or even me. It’s about serving and encouraging youth workers!
Back to work.
David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent men you save me.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
“The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the LORD;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.
2 Samuel 22:1-7
This is convention week. For the 5th time this year I will travel to a convention center to run social media. Two DCLAs (for students) and this is the third NYWC. (for youth workers)
I have the best job in youth ministry. I get to meet youth workers from all over the world and remind them that even though their jobs are hard and thankless… they are being used by God to further His Kingdom.
Awesome.
What’s different about this week is a little pre-convention trip to Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Host of NYWC 08) There I’ll be hanging out with Travis Deans and a bunch of youth workers in the Pittsburgh area. Travis is hosting two meetings of youth workers and I’ll have the opportunity to speak to them and with them. Such a blast! Travis and I lived on the same residence hall floor at Moody. That seems like about 10 billion years ago but I guess it was 1994-1996. We reconnected last Fall in Pittsburgh and I was stoked to learn that he’s been doing youth ministry since graduation! I will see if I can muster up a story about Travis to embarrass him. I may have to make one up.
Wednesday night I fly down to Atlanta. The last U.S. convention is always the largest so that will make it a lot of fun. Since Thursday is normally my travel day to convention I will be working from my hotel room all day on normal work stuff. That said, I do have one detour planned! I’ve been a user and fan of Mailchimp for a couple of years. Their offices are in downtown Atlanta and I hope to pop in on them Thursday to see where they keep the monkeys.
Friday through Monday… you won’t hear from me but I’ll be covering NYWC. (lots of live streaming of our rich line-up of speakers) Typically at convention, I’m busy all day with convention work and meal times are dominated by lunch with people I only see once per year. It’s hard to explain working through a convention season, it goes by fast and slow at the same time. I’ll blink and it’ll be Tuesday morning.
I fly home on Tuesday the 24th, picking up a rental car, and heading home to do some laundry. Wednesday through Sunday… we’re headed to San Jose for Thanksgiving! My cousin and his family live up there and we thought it’d be a blast to hang out with them over the holidays. (And see the Notre Dame vs. Stanford game.) The last time Kristen and I were in San Jose was 2000! So I’m looking forward to that.
The crazy thing about the next 2 weeks of travel? It’s my last scheduled trip. Last year, I had a similarly strangle travel schedule before the holidays… then didn’t leave San Diego county for almost 6 months!
Blog posts during the next two weeks will be typical. Sporadic and random.
