Hello!!!
I hope everyone had a magnificent and wonderful holiday season. Thanksgiving thru New Years is probably one of my favorite times of the year but also one of the most hectic and stressful. In my family there’s Thanksgiving, then tons of birthdays- I think there are 7 birthdays in an 8 day span in mid-December- then Christmas all rounded out with the ringing in the New Year.
For the last 5 years I have had the opportunity to attend the Vision Conference. This is a 5- day conference for International and American students to experience personal growth, international community, and spiritual growth. This year was my last year to attend and it was filled with so many different emotions. Going into the conference this year I felt very lost and was doubting my reason for being there. There were so many moments leading up to the conference where I was questioning if I was even meant to be there. It started with just trying to register. I no longer was considered a “student” ( Finally!) But I wasn’t staff, I didn’t qualify as a partner, I wasn’t looking for a short-term volunteer role and I struggled to find someone who could answer this question for me. And then the deadline to register had passed…
This wasn’t right, I KNEW I was supposed to be there it was being hosted in Atlanta, practically my backyard. There was no way I was going to miss this. But, I was so overwhelmed. There were 10 days before the conference and still nobody had responded to me. I knew there was at least one place I could sign-up to be involved just a little. I registered as a Welcome Volunteer and prayed.
I prayed for God to take this stress and just make it work.
The day of the conference I packed a bag for the week and prayed for God to be… well…God and make it happen. And God showed up and He showed up BIG.
I arrived at the conference and felt such an overwhelming sense of peace that what ever happened it was where I needed to be. I didn’t have any fears of the looming “what ifs” from the things that I had given to God to handle.
I was given the awesome job of registration guide(?). I got to lead all incoming students through the check-in process. This gave me the opportunity to meet 100+ students from all over the world. Plus, I got to see friends from years past! What an unexpected blessing!!!
And this was only DAY 1!!!
So much happened to me it deserved a second post. Be on the lookout for part 2!
