If I don't write this now, I probably won't get around to it. So even though the internet has been my life for the last few days, I will spend a little more time on the web. (I've been working on my internet safety lesson for the kids. It went really well tonight, although I am very tired.)
Another year, another trip to the L.A. Religious Education Conference. There really is something for everyone despite the R.E. label. We used to go for musical networking and material. Now I go to keep up on Youth Ministry trends and issues. I'll just touch on the highlights. I went to a great workshop entitled
The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander. The presenter was excellent and engaging. I enjoyed her workshop so much that I actually bought the book. I never realized how much bullying goes on and how much it has contributed to the actions of desperate kids whether it be taking their own lives or running into their school and taking the lives of their peers. It was very eye-opening. I really want to be committed to not tolerating this behavior in our program. I never thought about how girls bully each other, either. We bully through exclusion, gossip and stand-offishness. The presenter defined bullying as any action in which the perpetrator gains pleasure from someone else's pain. That's pretty broad but true when you think about it. That workshop really changed my view on the issue, especially since we do have a few bullys in our program.
Another workshop I attended was about forgiveness and freeing ourselves from past hurts. At first I was ready to walk out, because the woman started with a goofy story and then brought out the overhead projector and slides. I am so glad that I stayed. The Reader's Digest version is that you can't control what other people do or say to you or how other people interpret and react to what you say and do. You can, however, control how you react and interpret what people send your way and what you choose to send to them. We get in trouble when we obsess over what the other person is thinking, doing, etc to us. So, in bad situations our frustration over our lack of control of the other person becomes bitterness which unchecked becomes anger which makes forgiveness very difficult. But, all the anger and bitterness just ways us down and not forgiving someone does more damage to us than it does to the other person. She used the example of an ex-wife refusing to forgive her ex-husband for leaving her for a younger woman. She said that the ex-husband and the new woman are having a great time, so why does the ex-wife let herself live in misery? He obviously let go, so she needs to free herself. Forgiveness doesn't erase the past, it just puts it in perspective and leaves us in a happier and less weighted place. So, forgiveness is really the best gift that we can give ourselves. There was more to it than that, but that's the gist. She did tell two very powerful stories about forgiveness. I'll share the shorter one: A woman worked at a convenience store that was robbed and she was gang raped by the men. Life went on; the men went to jail, she got married, etc. She had a child and when she was expecting her second child she and her husband decided to take out a life insurance policy. They did the bloodwork required by the insurance company and ended up being denied. They both were HIV positive and didn't know it. This was in 1984, so there was a lot of prejudice regarding AIDS and HIV. It turned out that one of the men who had gang raped the woman had died in jail from AIDS. The woman decided to go public with her story since he had raped many women in the area. She and her husband lost their jobs; no one would employ them or help them, so they lost their house. The woman decided to use her bad situation in a positive way and pioneered AIDS awareness programs for children and teens. She is said to have not felt bad for herself or her situation because her misfortune helped her to do real good in the world for others. She didn't have bad feelings toward her attacker, although her husband did. His inability to forgive ultimately lead to his premature death although they both died before their children graduated from high school. He held on to the past and she forgave and let it go. What a difference it made.
All of my workshops were good, but those were the best. I did really enjoy the David Wells one on love languages, though. It was really nice to see Mike, Jo and Adian again. That's the part of Anaheim that we look forward to the most. I wish we could find a way to see them more often. They just got picked up by World Library Publications, so hopefully a lot more people will be introduced to their music. They really deserve it, and we are so happy and excited for them. We had a very nice dinner with them and the rest of our crew on Friday night once we left Outback and its two hour wait. On Saturday night, we actually ditched the conference stuff and drove out to Don's uncle's place in Northridge for awesome steaks and wine. The food and company was great. I found a new fan/craft partner in Don's five year old cousin, Nicki. Both her and her brother are very cute kids. Hopefully, we'll get to see that part of the family a little more often.
So, that was Anaheim. No new music to speak of. Jesse wasn't even there, which was strange. I missed his energy, but I knew that he wouldn't be there. It was fun to break in some Anaheim newbies too. Good energy.
Other than that, we have a few odds and ends. Lisa and Dave have decided to have Daylen here in Las Vegas. She'll come in May and Dave will hopefully beat the baby by a few days in June. She's even booked the baptism already! (Love ya', Lis!) So, now we get to be even more excited about our new family member since we'll actually be there when he arrives. It's going to be an exciting Spring and Summer! Laura, Doreen and Debbie are moving this weekend, so we'll be pitching in to help with that. On a sad note, we just found out that John died last month. I wasn't a huge fan of his, but I guess its another wake up call to live each day to the fullest not worrying much about the past or the future. Carpe diem, right? Well, g'night kids this day has been seized.
