I'm in Michigan! (Conference Journal, Day 1)

Posting by e-mail this week, from my written journal entries.

Sunday night, August 7

Getting here was an adventure. Three flights and I didn't sleep at all on the longest leg from San Diego to Chicago, arriving at 4:30 a.m. I ate the sandwich I'd brought from home and tried to sleep. At 7 a.m. I had coffee to keep me awake on the final short flight and until I could get my room at the Conference site.

I checked in, ate the salad I'd bought in Chicago, and tried to sleep to be able to make it through evening worship. I woke up just in time for dinner, and after dinner I grabbed my Bible and notebook and headed to the opening session.

Then the youth led the worship that night, the whole reason I came to Conference opening day. I was in the bathroom when they started - one of my favorite songs - but I ran upstairs as soon as I could. Their closing song was the one that touched me so deeply last year - "Blessed Be Your Name," a song about praising God whether life is good or bad.

It was so hot. The chapel is not air conditioned; neither is my dorm room, which I happen to be sharing with Jeanne, one of only two women pastors in our denomination. (How I feel about women pastors is a subject for another time.) [Edit: There are actually four woman pastors in the denomination.]

I'm on the second floor of the building that houses the cafeteria, so that cuts down on some of the massive walking Conference reqiures.

That's Monday. Tuesday will follow when I have time.