When I woke up one morning this week in a fog, I struggled to remember what day it was. Oh, Tuesday, I said to myself in relief.
Most people feel relief on Fridays or even Thursdays because the week is nearly over, but I was thankful it was earlier in the week. You see, the triennial convention and triennial gathering are fast approaching, and most of the Women of the ELCA staff still has much to do.
We are the final stages of an almost two-year plan to host a giant inspirational experience (and business meeting). In a couple of weeks, we will hold our Tenth Triennial Convention and Gathering in Minneapolis.
[bctt tweet=”I love watching the boxes scattered around our office come to life. ” username=”womenoftheelca”]
A truck carrying all our supplies leaves today, and maybe when we see its exhaust in the distance heading toward Minneapolis, we’ll allow ourselves a relaxing cocktail or a glass of sweet ice tea. But probably not because our work is not over until the last participant leaves the convention center on July 16 with a sense of being All Anew.
I love watching the boxes scattered around our office come to life at the gathering’s convention center. I love the buzz of the triennial gathering.
And the nearly 3,000 of you registered are going to love it too. This year, we have more than 1,100 first-time attendees. Your invitations to others to join us at the gathering have paid off. If you are attending the Tenth Triennial Gathering for a second, third, fourth or fifth time, please welcome these newcomers. You will know them by their name badges.
National Public Radio presented a week-long series on stress a while back, and research found that about 1 in 4 Americans had “a great deal of stress” in the previous month.
Well, okay, that’s Women of the ELCA staff right now. But that won’t be those of you participating in the gathering (there’s still time to register!).
The gathering will be your time for rest and renewal, your time to dance and sing and praise God. It will be your time to be with other bold women of faith who are seeking a spectacular reformation, a miraculous transformation.
The NPR report indicated that “A lot of stress can be very disruptive, but a little bit of stress is kind of like working your muscles, your emotional muscles. And you build them up, and you learn how to cope.”
If you run into one of us, ask if you can feel our muscles. We’ve been exercising them a lot lately.
We ask you to pray for the staff, the volunteers, the pleasant and accommodating staff of Freeman, the event marketing company helping us pull this off. Pray also for our worship leaders and our workshop leaders and the exhibitors and vendors, for yourselves and anybody else I’ve failed to mention.
Terri Lackey is the director for communication for Women of the ELCA.