SOMETHING RADICAL

I am doing something radical. I mean, I am doing something REALLY radical. In fact, it is so radical, you probably won't even believe that I am going to do it. You better sit down. (Sue did.)

I am going to a Women of Faith Conference. ALL BY MYSELF. IN FLORIDA!!!! I told you that you wouldn't believe it.

Dwane has been very fortunate to be able to go to Virginia a couple of times, and also to Colorado. I figured that I needed to go ahead and plan a trip for me. As much as I have always loved traveling with my family (and still look forward to doing more of that in the future), there are things that I want to see and do that are just more conducive to being alone.

The Women of Faith Conference I am going to is June 8-9 (my birthday weekend). What really excited me about the whole thing is that the preconference, which is all day on June 8, is by BETH MOORE!!!! Beth Moore is the woman that writes all of the Bible Studies that I do (including the one I recently finished on Daniel). Even if for some reason I couldn't go to the Saturday session, I would still be entirely thrilled to just have the opportuity to listen to Beth Moore. But--on Saturday, Sandy Patti will be a featured performer! What more could a girl ask for????

The conference will be in Ft. Lauderdale, and my plane ticket is all bought. I'll be leaving Portland on my birthday, around noon. I'll have a 2 hour layover in Philadelphia. I'll come home on Sunday, arriving in Portland around noon. For that trip, I have only a 29 minute layover in Baltimore. That's a little tight, but if worse comes to worse, I still should have plenty of time during the day to make another flight. Although I haven't flown by myself since 1989, I'm not nervous about that. I think I can handle that ok. I think my biggest "fear" will just be arranging transportation to get around. But Dwane says that I am a "smart girl" and can figure it out. And Sue said that most hotels in the area will have shuttles to and from the conference, so that put my mind at ease too. I'll just double-check with my hotel to make sure. I did splurge to have box lunches given to me at the convention, so that I won't need to worry about coordinating that.

I'm a little nervous, of course, but I told Dwane that there will be 40,000 Christian sisters in Ft. Lauderdale that weekend, and I'm sure that someone will be willing to help. And, I am not one that is afraid or embarassed to ask for help. If anything, I might be too quick to ask for help. I don't want to waste time figuring it all out if there is someone right there that already knows the answer.

Because this is going to be a birthday gift, Dwane was really sweet and offered to make all of the arrangements for me. I told him that I really wanted to do it, though, because this is going to prove to me that I can. If it goes well, I think it will be really great for my self-esteem. This is a chance to take some of my fears (being on my own, for example--which I have never, ever done), and face them head on. Hey---maybe I'll take on beekeeping next--bees are another fear of mine.

Since I am taking care of the travel arrangements, I have left the planning of child care up to Dwane. That is the part that probably stresses me most, because I really hate to ask anyone. Dwane's weekend at the Samoset is going to be one of the busiest ever, so don't be surprised if you get a call from Dwane for some help. We were just going to ask his Mom to come stay here while I'm gone (which she did when I went to Tennessee, and everything went very well), but Normand had hip replacement surgery on Monday. He will be laid up for 5 weeks, and my trip is in 4. So we don't know for sure yet whether or not she'll be able to come, if at all. Sue has offered to help, and Alice has offered to help some too. I haven't even had a chance to tell Mom my news yet, but I'm sure that she would help when she's not working, and maybe Ma and Aunt Ginny might help with Eben on the weekend, just to keep Eben and Caleb apart as much as possible. Dwane has also left messages for Sandra (his step-mom) to see if she could help out. If anyone wants to volunteer for a spot---let Dwane know!!!

I am so excited about this. I can't believe I'm really going to do it.

Radical, huh????