Just Keep Walking

We have been taking a few days out to attend a prevention conference. One of our donors told us that they thought it would be a good idea. We followed their advice and off we went for three days of a conference and two days of R&R.The first day of the conference was good. We heard from a gentleman named Raleigh Philps about the inner workings of a teen brain. We also heard Arnold Shapiro speak. He is the gentleman who produced the Emmy award winning documentary "Scared Straight." In the afternoon we heard from a gangs person and a professor from CSI on culture. We took in a lot of information that day and got the beginnings of some great ideas.The next day we headed down the elevator to join the rest of the conference. On the way down Robert prayed for the day and for us that God would guide our path and show us where he wanted us. He prayed specifically that God would give us a relaxing and fruitful time. The night before we had gotten a message from the hotel about our room and so on the way into the conference we checked in at the desk. They let us know that the Sun Valley Inn (the part of Sun Valley) we were staying in would be closing on Saturday and they would need to find us another room for the remainder of the two nights that we were there. Now bear in mind we had a beautiful room in the Inn with a bed, TV and bath. It is a gorgeous place. The hotel person first looked for a room in the lodge and found that everyone room was booked for the time we would be there. At this point I was getting a bit nervous but kept remembering Robert's prayer and knew that God would take care of us. So after a few moments and a phone call to someone in charge the kind Romanian woman who was helping us gave us an apartment behind the lodge. The apartment has a beautiful kitchen, a living room with a gas fireplace, a terrace and a loft bedroom. My first thought as I stood there being given this gift was "Man!!! He is at it already." God is good!After our visit to the front desk we went into the conference and heard from a young lady working with teens in Washington DC named Shanterra McBride. She again had many great points and most of all she was uplifting. Listening to her gave us new ideas about what we could do next. In the afternoon we went to an "after school program" presentation. Bottom line we were given a lot of ideas about where to go next.The last day rolled around and we had a great time. The wrap up was a morning with a man named Michael Pritchard. Mr. Pritchard is a comedian who has worked as a California probation officer as well as working with at youth kids, educating them as well as the adults who work with them. He has also taken many of them into his home and his family. http://www.michaelpritchard.com/As I sat and listened to him, I knew in the first few minutes that we would enjoy this man. One of the first few things he said was about a Haitian young man who was he was living with his family. A few moments later he talked about the young African who had lived with them years before and then there was the Laotian. He spoke with dignity and gave dignity to those people he spoke about. Both Robert and I were really energized and excited after that last talk. The conference had built to a climax and we went away happy. I have to tell you though that although we thought that was the end of our conference experience it was not!Please remember back to Robert's prayer of the previous morning and his continued prayer that God would author our path.... so.... after the conference and lunch, we went to check on our room. It wasn't ready yet. We went for a drive up to Galena Summit. We got back and went into the lobby of the lodge to pick up our keys. While I was waiting for Robert to get the keys I glanced out into the seating area and further out to the ice rink. As I was looking around I noticed a man sitting in front of the fire on a soft couch reading his paper. I wanted to talk to him but was way too shy. I acknowledged God and stepped into the parlor. Now some of you who don't know me may think I walked up and introduced myself. HAH! No, I just waited for my husband to follow me in.Robert soon followed me in and of course my observant husband noticed the man reading his newspaper. He walked up to him. Immediately the man put his paper down and Robert introduced himself, telling him he wanted to thank him for his time at the conference. I walked up just about the time that Micheal Pritchard asked us what we did and why we were hear. Robert's answer was we work with refugees, specifically children in Boise. Michael asked us to sit down and although we tried to excuse ourselves after half an hour of conversation, he gave us two hours of his time. It was the highlight for us of the conference. He gave us great tips, tons of great ideas and told us to call him.So now we head back to Boise even more excited and ready to do the work that God has so graciously given us.