Going well…

The conference is going well, from my end. We’ve had a small handful of puzzling discrepancies, sudden challenges, and semi-serious issues. But nothing was left unresolved.

I love my team in the bookstore. I love my job in the bookstore. (I know, it’s a little weird.)

Heidi is here. She has been teaching me lots of new things. (For those who don’t know, Heidi is the Canadian Angel of RMS Magic who graces the Forerunner Bookstore with her ever-brilliant presence about twice a year.)

Yes, my brain has been mush at several points throughout the last few days. Yes, the bottom of my feet are killing me. Yes, I die a little on the inside every time I see cash.

And yet, it has been an overall pleasant experience… somehow.

I’ve been enjoying myself so much that I am experiencing strong and baffling urges to return to the bookstore after the conference has ended. Perhaps that will pass. Perhaps it will not.

Well, I do not anticipate spending more than 5 minutes on the Internet until the conference has ended. So … goodbye… until 2009!

Magical Morning

Well, I did end up going outside and playing in the snow after that last snow post. I couldn’t take it anymore. The snow was too amazing to not be in the middle of it as it fell.

I bundled up well. I would spend three paragraphs describing how awesomely warm-sustaining my outfit was… but I would probably be the only person who was excited about the drawn-out explanation of my moose PJ pants, wool socks, boots, jeans, scarf, two pairs of gloves, and leather jacket.

One of those rare occasions

I am writing this post to commemorate one of those rare occasions where I actually join the rest of humanity in the making of mistakes.

OK, whatever. They aren’t rare occasions.

Anyway… I’m still laughing at myself for this one.

Around 3:15 AM on Wednesday night, I was going about my job as usual in the bookstore. I noticed that we were completely out of an EGS CD and sent a quick email to Mandy to order more.

The CD that we needed was 7.13.08.

The CD I ordered was 9.23.08.

Not even close.

I got a simple response from Mandy, saying: “I think that this date hasn’t happened yet. I could be wrong…”

I laughed so hard. And I’m laughing again.

What happened to my brain?

Beautiful

I had the honor of attending David and Kristen’s wedding on Friday.

Few weddings have impacted me as deeply as this one. Part of the impact is too personal to write about here. But there was one moment in particular that I really want to make note of.

Usually, at weddings, I watch the groom as his bride is coming down the aisle. I just love to see his expression–the ridiculously huge grin or the flood of tears.

I’ve known David for 5 years (a long time in IHOP time) and he is one of my absolute favorite people. So you would ESPECIALLY expect that I would be watching him watch Kristen come down the aisle towards him.

But I hardly even glanced at David in that moment. I did… I glanced. But there was something else that stole my attention.

Tent Revival and Such

I only have one full day left on the road with Eddie James Ministries. By Thursday evening, I should be back in Kansas City.

… I paused in my writing just then to take a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

OK, now I’m yawning.

Back to the point.

I’m really excited to be coming home. I miss my friends. I miss Richard. I miss the prayer room… my worship team… my bed… my towels… more than three remaining clothing options that are clean… things that make your feet stop hurting.

At the same time, however, I have really come to enjoy myself here. Now, by here, I mean “wherever Eddie’s team happens to be.” I kept catching myself referring to it in that way tonight. And I’ve decided that it is okay to do so.

Wait a Minute

Our trip is actually 9 days long. I thought it was 8. Apparently, Alicia is the only one, between the two of us, who can actually count.

Fortunately, I tend to overpack when it comes to underwear and… well… everything. The underwear are just of particular importance. I care about good hygiene.

Sigh. Kansas City feels so far away.

We’ve been gone for… wait, let me ask Alicia to count…

OK, we’ve been gone for 5 days. That’s a long time. We still have 4 days left.

Oh my gosh, I could cry. I’m so incredibly homesick.

Much Better

So, I’m in Dallas right now. We set up Eddie’s product table at an International Worship Institute event. I don’t know anything about what that is. I just know I was there.

Eddie’s team left tonight. We will be here until Friday afternoon. Do you know what that means?

That’s right. I get a day off. Praise the living God. He is good. Really good.

AND… we’re in Dallas. So I get to spend some time with my dad, drink bubble tea at my favorite coffee shop, and relax.

It looks like we get Saturday off as well. Only the dancers will be at our scheduled Saturday event… which means that there will be no product present for us to sell at that point. So we get a day off in Alabama. I’m thinking of spending the entire day reading my Bible and sleeping. Or engaging in activities of a similar nature.

My new Bible, by the way, is AMAZING. TNIV – The Books of the Bible. Its introductions are amazing. I almost started crying when I read the little heading on the cover page for the New Testament. And the lack of chapter and verse references makes it an entirely new reading experience. I’m falling in love with the Bible in a whole new way.

So… I am breathing again.

I’m also making a lot of big decisions right now. So I guess the breathing room is especially good at this time.

OK… time to sleep. Ah… sleep. I get to sleep. I like this new thing we’re doing here… this sleeping and resting thing.

Inventory Fun

We did inventory this week. Three days of sorting, counting and recounting.

I actually really enjoy inventory. I probably would have enjoyed it more this year if I wasn’t so exhausted. But I still found myself delighting in the activity from time to time. I truly do love to count and organize things. And that’s what inventory is all about.

Warning: the rest of this post goes into unnecessary detail, summarizing the activities of each day of inventory. I can’t imagine why that would be interesting to anyone else. But… I wanted to write about it, so I did. Read at your own risk.

TERRIBLE… but Really Great

My life has been a little too hectic lately to sit down and blog. It is a fact that makes me sad (for more reasons than one). But, being fact and all… it is what it is.

Here is a rough outline of what I have been up to.

June 14-15 –> Switch to days by staying up all night
June 16 –> Get the store ready for me to be gone for 5 days
June 17-18 –> Warehouse inventory; continue prepping store for absence; rush packing 
June 19-23 –> In Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee with Eddie James (long and tiring trip)
June 24-25 –> Manager meeting; catch up from absence from store; prepare for inventory; schedule adjustments
June 26-28 –> Fascinate ‘08 Conference that my boss is letting me take off to recover… praise the Lord.
June 29-July 2 –> INVENTORY (long days… one of the two major bookstore events of the year)
July 2-July 9 –> Texas and Alabama with Eddie James

Knuckle Crunchers

I just had my first experience with the knuckle crunchers at the bookstore. And this joyous opportunity (to experience a very long and drawn out process with every single customer who approached our counter) came when I was deliriously tired.

Shortly before I went to bed last night, a friend of mine told me some potential bad news concerning a mutual friend of ours. I was stirred up to talk to God concerning the negative report that may come later and to ask Him to act on behalf of the ones He loves… to do what is in His heart.

Well, I went to sleep anyway (because sleep is important). But it didn’t last for very long.

I may have woken up because I wasn’t feeling very well. In any case, I woke up. But I couldn’t get back to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about my friend. I just lay there praying… and praying… and praying… and thinking about who God is and what He loves… and praying.

I have a relatively full day ahead of me and I knew that my present sleeplessness would keep me from making it into work at 3. So I decided to just go and get some things done at the store while I was going to be awake anyway.

And that’s where the knuckle crunchers enter the scene.