Tuesday, October 07, 2008

GENCON

Sometimes I even get homesick for it. I love it. I always love it, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.

I'm speaking, of course, about General Conference.

This year I almost missed part of it. Well, I wouldn’t have missed it because I would have listened to it in the car, but it’s not the same. But when I was sitting there, surrounded by my kids and the legos and the snacks and the cuddles and the calming, familiar voices of leaders who want only to help me I was so glad that I wasn’t anywhere else.

I always enjoy Saturday morning the most, probably because that’s when I’m fresh. By Sunday afternoon I feel as if I’ve been drinking out of a firehose, and I wonder if the talks from that session would affect me more had I heard them earlier on. I still love the feeling, though, and look forward to hearing all the talks again later when I download them to my MP3 player.

So I don’t have anything specific to say about any of the talks, but I just wanted to say how sweet it is to have such a warm, safe place in my life as General Conference. I feel centered now and ready to take a deep breath and try again.

(A friend once said to me, “If guilt does anything more to you than make you stop sinning, it’s not from God.” I agree completely. But there’s a different kind of guilt that is not negative but is really a sweet nudging that is always accompanied by a bright splash of hope that I really can do better and, what’s more, I really want to—an excited feeling of anticipation, really. That’s the RIGHT kind of correction from the Holy Ghost, and that’s the kind I get when I listen to conference with the Spirit. Ahhhh.)

7 comments:

Christopher Bigelow said...

At first I thought you were coming out of the closet as a fantasy role-playing Dungeons & Dragons fan, as their big annual convention is known as GENCON.

Again, I wish I felt as happy about religion as you do. Is there some pill I can take to help myself enjoy it more?

nurselynn said...

I keep thinking about the 'bright splash of hope'. That is awesome! Thank you!

Melinda said...

I love General Conference, too. I got to attend the Staurday afternoon session with my husband, sis, and daughter to watch my other daughter sing. I had great seats--less that 60 feet from the prophet. It was an experience that I won't soon forget.

Anonymous said...

I don't (for once) have anything to say other than that I enjoyed reading your thoughts.

Mel, that choir was WONDERFUL and made a great impression on my kids. (And I couln't help pointing out to them how all those kids in the choir made it through all two hours WITHOUT ANY PAPER TO DRAW ON.)

Melinda said...

Imaginary, If you had seen the kids twisting around in their seats and wiggling when the camera was on the speaker and not on them, you might have thought differently. And there were NO ADULTS next to them to tell them to sit down and sit still. It nearly drove me crazy -so I had to focus on the speaker and not look at the kids. :-) Kids will be kids and the music was wonderful. My daughter will always remember singing in conference and the Spirit that she felt.

Hoontah said...

I love your imagery. It is always dead on.

Mel, Your daughter sang at conference? Wow. I leave for one week and everybody is overflowing with news. I can barely watch my children in a primary program, I don't know how you managed that.

Hoontah said...

I mean I can barely watch my children wiggle in their seats. I love watching their enthusiasm as they eagerly show how they memorized all their lines and remembered most of the words of the songs.