A Day of Remembrance

Today is July 14th. One year ago today was the longest and most exhilarating day of my life. No... no child of mine was born & no, i was not in any type of accident. One year ago today was the opening day for the 2009 Mennonite World Conference. One year ago today I was employed by the MWC as Director of Lodging. In 2009, Paraguay received approximately 6,000 participants to this assembly. People came from all over the world, including Japan, Indonesia, Africa, Germany, France, Honduras, Colombia, USA, Canada, Mexico, etc, etc, etc. They all came and they all needed a place to sleep. That was my job. What's that verse in the Bible that says something like, "God's love makes us crazy." I promise, it's somewhere in the Bible. Well, i must have been crazy to accept the job. It was 2007 and I had a little baby & another one on the way (I didn't know that at the time). I worked through a pregnancy and delivery, taking only a month off for maternity. I found places for everyone to sleep & arranged for transportation to get them to the meetings and back to their lodging sites.

So many miracles happened in those days that I'm convinced God's had was a work. I started getting calls in the middle of the night beginning the 10th of July. People at the airport asking where they were supposed to go. I lived on little sleep for most of the month of July. I am so grateful to people like my pastor who gave me my husband on loan to be my personal assistant. This was such a wonderful gift! He made the best gofer in the world! I want to write about all the tiny things that happened and simply cannot get my thoughts organized enough to do it. All in all, God was true to the end and everything worked out marvelously. Praise the Lord.

I'd like to simply say that even though there were times i thought i wouldn't make it through the stress and anxiety, i know that it was worth it. God's family is so big. We have brothers and sisters all over the world. I loved to be handing out blankets to my cold sisters of Colombia & India. I fell in love with so many tiny aspects of each culture. They wanted more of me and i felt desperate to have something of them. I gave & I received beyond the measure that i requested. God filled my cup to overflowing. I may never again have the chance to serve my fellow brother and sister like this again. So, even though it took me until September to get used to not jumping in anxiety when my phone rang, it was worth it. However, next MWC you might see me participating as a regular Old Joe Customer =)