As I sit on my first plane to Chicago anticipation is building. Ins few short hours I will be in San Diego and in two days I will be at the storyline conference! I have wanted to go to this conference for years, I can hardly believe it is actually happening. I will get to sit and listen to some of my literary heroes. People who have inspired my faith and my life. Bob Goff showed me that love should always be unconditional. Donald Miller taught me to dream and to change my story if I didn’t like the direction it was going. And Shauna niequist. She has inspired me for years. From the first day a friend handed me Cold Tangerines. Her life and stories have inspired me to live a fuller life. To work on deeper relationships with my friends and that life around the table is the best life of all. I can not wait to experience this conference.

I am hoping it will inspire me to write the next chapter of my life well. It is timely that I am going to this conference at a time in my life where my life is changing so drastically. My career is changing, where I live will change, who surrounds me is changing and some friendships are deepening and some will go away. This time in my life has been so different and so interesting. The bomb completely changed the trajectory of my path, and I know it will continue to put some twists and turns in this chapter. I am also confident that this conference will help me decide where my story goes and it will help me make the best story that I can.

I got here two days early and have been enjoying the hotel, the sunshine, and the ocean! At a friend’s recommendation, I started reading a book by Madeleine L’engle called The Rock That Is Higher. She wrote this book while she was in the hospital in San Diego after being in a tragic car accident. So far so many things she has said about being severely injured, being hospitalized for so long, and dealing with the repercussions of such a tragic accident have rung so true to my own life. I feel like I’m sitting here cheering her on and agreeing with every statement she makes and saying “yes Madeleine! I know exactly how you feel.” We would be friends were she still alive.

One thing in particular that stood out to me this afternoon in regards to forgiveness. It seems like more and more people are asking me about the bomber and how I feel towards him. Madeline’s response to the same question about the man who hit her with his truck…
“My focus was on recovering, returning to life. Come to think of it, I do not feel particularly kindly towards the truck driver who, as far as we know, still has never inquired if he hurt or killed the people In the little car he demolished. But I am happy to leave him to God. If there are lessons he needs to learn from this experience, well, he is God’s child, not mine, and it is up to God, not me, to teach him.”

So well said. That is my new response to how I feel about the bomber. In case you were wondering.

Storyline starts in the morning!!!!