2. My sense of direction sucks. Yeah, we knew that.
3. But my amazing, fabulous kids pick up the slack on that. See, they 'get' that we all have different gifts - and they totally called me on navigation not being one of mine. So they'll take over that and let me do what I do well. :)
3.5 Twitter rocks. Twitter helps us experience this as a community - and be in relationship - in a new way. It's like being able to lean over and listen to a whispered comment from EVERYONE at the Gathering.
4. New Orleans is HOT and HUMID. HOT and HUMID was pretty much everybody's low last night. "Air you can wear" is not something you want to hear in a weather report.
5. HOT and HUMID was everybody's low!! So...that means most other things about the day were a high!
6. Teenagers will be mortified (but I think secretly impressed although they'd never admit it) if their adult leader stands up in Cafe du Monde and prays at the top of her lungs.
7. Oh, the adult leader dancing to zydeco music with someone from Florida on Bourbon street will mortify the kids too.
8. But - we model what we want them to understand, right? When the Spirit moves you....
8.5 I can *kind of* do a slow jitterbug!
8.75 Worship can break out anywhere - even over beignets and cafe au lait thanks to a trumpeter playing When the Saints Go Marching In and The Doxology and other tunes.
9. I DO have it in me to stand up at Cafe du Monde with a few hundred other Lutherans and be the one to shout The Lord be with you! Let us pray! Who knew?
9.5 The few hundred Lutherans responding "And also with you" will knock you off your feet - almost literally. Wow.
10. Beignets are yummy.
10.5 So is gumbo.
11. My kids are AMAZING. And fun. Did I mention that already?
12. Christian music CAN rock the house. The bands at this Gathering have been out of this world! (no metaphor intended, but...)
13. We all hear the message we need to hear. While I was fascinated by Dr. Viola Vaughn last night, and her style was just what connected with me, others were equally entranced by Becca Stevens, who I just couldn't connect with. Kudos to the Gathering Planning Team for finding speakers to deliver the message in different ways!
14. 37,000 Lutherans leaving the Superdome are LOUD, like to play Marco Polo across the street, and take a looooong time to move back to the hotels.
15. If you want pizza after the Mass Gathering, order it at 4pm and pick it up.
16. Do NOT try to get on the elevator after the Mass Gathering and during Community Life. Just hang in the lobby. Really.
17. Carry laptop at all times to be able to access free internet in the lobby (while you're hanging out waiting for an elevator).
18. God's love abounds - keep your eyes open to see it EVERYWHERE!!!!!
19. Mules are smarter than horses. "Stubborn as a mule" refers to this - where a horse can be pushed so far past its limits that it's heart will burst, a mule works hard and loves to work, but when it reaches its physical limits, it won't work any more until it rests. Huh. There's a lesson in there for us, I just know it! :)
20. I won't mind being called "stubborn as a mule" anymore - taking care of myself is important!
20.5 I can do this - I can do this - I can do this - BUT NOT ALONE.
21. "If you don't love yourself, who's gonna love you?" - Viola Vaughn.
22. Read read read learn read learn read read learn. - Viola Vaughn
22.5 Agape (David Scherer - Google him) ROCKS DA HOUSE!!! So does Group1Crew. Cannot wait to hear more...
23. Our kids - all 37,000 of them - are pretty dadgum cool. So cool, in fact, that they were highly complimented by a group of businessmen behind me in line for the elevator. "They're so well-behaved, friendly, helpful...they aren't causing any problems at all. What do you Lutherans do that other churches don't do?"
24. While I don't think the Lutheran church has a monopoly on loving kids, I did trot out the "sinful and unclean to the core of our being" and "dependent on grace" for these gentlemen.
25. Explaining "sinful and unclean to the core of our being" and "dependent on grace" to gentlemen who were, shall we say, a bit lubricated, is....interesting.
26. Community grows best organically. I have watched this group bond and get to know each other in ways I didn't expect - it's fascinating and wonderful and amazing! (and jokes about the farmer spreading manure to help the plants grow...I don't think I'd like where that would go!)
26.5 God gives you a little lagniappe sometimes. Example: walking home from the Superdome in the heat and humidity and crowds is cranky-making. Then it started raining - just enough to cool us off, lift our spirits (I heard more than one kid say it was the Spirit raining down on us), and refresh us for the journey. Thank you Lord!
27. Our kids are amazing - did I mention that?
28. I think they like me too...they include me in their community and jokes and teasing and fun. And they listen when I talk with them.
29. I KNOW they love me. I KNOW they care about me.
30. I love these guys, I care about these guys - and I LIKE these guys.
31. I am blessed beyond description to be in this ministry. I am thankful beyond description for times like this - big moments and small ones - that remind me how blessed I am. God is good - ALL THE TIME!!!
32. I am learning more lessons every second of this trip. I hope to remember them long enough to add them to this.
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