Day #2

Not the greatest day. Peaks of enjoyment and valleys of disappointment. Got to a "Texans" breakfast at 7:30 AM only to find people I'd already met from our home state. If I'm going to get up at 6 AM, I better meet some new folks, too. [Julie is not a morning person.] - A valley of discouragement.

The morning session enabled me to evaluate my own devotional writing and find that I'm doing several things right! - A peak of encouragement.

The afternoon session was disappointing because it reviewed a number of things I learned in college and seminary, so I actually left it early to attend another class. That one made up for the other's lack of information, though. A class on Post-modernism with the topic being Wiccan beliefs and New Age practices and how the Christian Writer can be informed in addressing a culture that is open to those tenets because of a lack of absolute truth. Whew! Lots to digest, especially because so many people had opinions to share, further muddy-ing the waters. The whole time I sat there, I thought, "Darin would so be loving this dialogue!" - A valley of discouragement to a peak of enjoyment.

Later that afternoon, I sat down with Ginger Kolbaba, editor of Today's Christian Woman, a magazine to which I subscribe, and presented my piece on fear, Enough to Carry, wondering if it would fit her publication's needs. (Click here to see it.) She was gracious, but felt it needed some major changes before it would be usable for them. No big deal, it simply helped point me in the right direction. Specifically, that my skills may be best used by the Lord as a devotional writer, not necessarily a magazine contributor. The changes she said I'd need don't necessarily fit my personality and calling, but we'll see. I'm certainly not shutting the door on the idea of composing articles for magazine publication, because it may be an area in which the Lord wants to stretch and challenge me. - Let's call this a plateau on the mountain of experience.

The other afternoon session I attended was very intimate. The instructor and two students! We had a great time sharing thoughts on keeping creativity fresh without the distraction of trying to edit or "fix" things when you should be creating. It was great to have such personal dialogue, plus we laughed about all kinds of things. - A peak of enjoyment.

Then, last night's keynote speaker spent the entire 50 minutes (he was alloted 30) dropping names of authors, editors, agents and publishers. I have no idea who any of them were. I would have gotten up to leave, except I was on the fourth row. It would have been rather obvious, I think. - A valley of discouragement (ok, boredom).

I got back to the room and crashed. At least Darin had a great golf game!