Friday - District Convention

Well you read that right - we were insane enough to take the one Friday the center was closed for maintenance while we are here to head to an English District Convention in the area since we will be missing the one for our congergation in Charlotte while we are here.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about it is something Jehovah's Witnesses look forward to once a year where we get together in "districts" or multiple congregations for discourses, usually around 5,000 to 10,000 people in attendance per convention with around 10 to 15 million attending worldwide per year having the same themes/discourses presented. 
Every year it is 100% upbuilding and full of spiritual encouragement - just what we need ESPECIALLY now!  It is held for 3 days and we knew that was a bit of an undertaking for Elan all at one time so thought we would break it up a bit over the summer.

So Elan woke up and still had some of his hair and I knew it would shed throughout the day but I felt better to be among a crowd of loving people then at home moping around and depressed.  We drove the 2 1/2 hrs to the one for this weekend and boy was it an AWFUL nightmare but a few fun times scattered in... here are the highlights of why bad:

No interstates, just 2 lane curvy highways

2 hr late start

- both boys should have slept another 2 hrs - just guess how Finn was

 - Elan threw up in the McDonald's parking lot and an older man in his mid 70's who worked there which I chatted with briefly while buying a coffee decided it was a grand time to chat us up by our car while we are cleaning our butt naked child with his Mickey button hanging out and all thrown up on.  He was either really blind, out of it - mentally, or just so interested in telling us about himself to even notice what we were doing.  He was quite kind and told us he donates to St. Jude every year and asked if we were headed to the local water park (yeah right in dress clothes - why I state #1 or # 2 above is correct).  We then explained we were on our way to Evansville, IN for our annual District Convention and he said his wife was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  We of course said how nice and did our best to "wrap it up" with him but of course he asked our names and he told us all about where she attended etc (again while my child was covered in throw up and we were sponging him down enough to take him into the bathroom). Erik was glaring at me saying "ignore him!".  He was so sweet and kind and gentile I just couldn't!

Well we cleaned Elan up and loaded them in the car - popped in Toy Story (TV in the car is now my best friend - man do I feel bad for my pious thoughts 6 months ago and my children's lack of TV knowledge - those days are way over!) and drove on.  30 minutes later a call from this man's wife!  she was thrilled we met her husband and thought we were so kind etc.  So ended up being a nice deal after all and while writing this realize it was indeed a real blessing to have had a nice person there during such a trying time.

So we get to the location (thankfully Indiana has both central and Eastern so we gained an hour!) for lunch.  Basically we enjoyed ourselves but decided we need to really pull back on what our expectations are for ourselves as we go forward.  There was about 6,000 in attendance and we met several nice families during the lunchtime.  I fed Elan in the First Aid room and everyone was so kind - of course it is always staffed with at least one RN and several other medically trained individuals so they are used to the whole deal.  THey were so compassionate and helped me feel good. 

The highlight of the program for us was a talk about being heartfelt towards prayer and ways to apply it.  There was also an experience mentioned regarding a family going through a child's serious health issue and how the congergation was really there for them.  We have really felt that in our congergation in Charlotte as well as the people in the one here we are visiting.

Here is a copy of the program so you can understand what is discussed and why we feel so important for us to go to be encouraged.  In reality it really was super encouraging however not the wisest thing for Elan after the fact.  It wasn't so bad for him as it was for Erik and me.  He feels fine after vomitting - we just have to pick it up!

FRIDAY 5

“As for Jehovah, He Sees What the Heart Is”

—1 Samuel 16:7

9:20 Music 9:30 SongNo.52andPrayer 9:40 Chairman’sAddress:

Why Must We Safeguard Our Heart? (Proverbs 4:23; Jeremiah 17:5-10)

10:10 Acquiring“anObedientHeart”—IsItPossible? (1 Kings 3:9)

10:30 DoYouHaveaBalancedViewofYourself? (Romans 12:3)

10:50 SongNo.57andAnnouncements 11:00 Symposium:BewareofDangerousHeartConditions!

“Cunning of Heart” (Proverbs 7:10) “Double Heart” (Psalm 12:2) “Halfhearted” (Psalm 119:113) “In Want of Heart” (Proverbs 7:7; 10:21)

11:40 KeynoteAddress: Let God’s Word Reveal the Intentions of Your Heart

(Hebrews 4:12; James 1:22-25) 12:10 SongNo.113andIntermission

1:50 Music 2:00 SongNo.106 2:05 QuestionsAbouttheHeartAnswered

(Deuteronomy 4:39; Philippians 1:7, 8) 2:25 AvoidTestingGodinYourHeart(Psalm78:18,19) 2:45 SoundDrama:FortifyYourHeartstoBeWitnesses

(Matthew 27:32–28:15; Luke 24:8-53) 3:15 SongNo.116andAnnouncements

Morning

AfternoonFRIDAY 6

Afternoon (continued)

3:25 Symposium:PrepareYourHeartfor... Prayer (Psalm 141:2)

Study (Ezra 7:10) Meetings (Deuteronomy 16:16) Informal Witnessing (1 Peter 3:15) Temptation (Psalm 78:8) Persecution (1 Peter 4:12-14)

4:25 DoYouHave“aHeartforWorking”?(Nehemiah4:6) 4:55 SongNo.98andClosingPrayer

SATURDAY

“Out of the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth Speaks”—Matthew 12:34

9:20 Music 9:30 SongNo.96andPrayer 9:40 Symposium:MotivateRightheartedOnestoLove...

Their Spiritual Father (Acts 13:48; 16:14)

Their Spiritual Mother (Proverbs 6:20) 10:10 Symposium:GuardYourHeartAgainst

“the Works of the Flesh” Fornication, Uncleanness, Brazen Conduct

(Galatians 5:19-21) Idolatry, Practice of Spiritism (1 John 5:21) Enmities . . . Envies (Psalm 141:3) Drunken Bouts, Revelries, and Things Like These

(2 Peter 2:2) 11:10 SongNo.68andAnnouncements

Morning

SATURDAY 7

Morning (continued)

11:20 “GodIsGreaterThanOurHearts”—How? (1 John 3:19, 20)

11:40 Baptism:GiveYourHearttoJehovah(Ephesians3:20) 12:10 SongNo.58andIntermission

1:35 Music 1:45 SongNo.67 1:50 “JehovahIsNeartoThoseThatAreBrokenatHeart”

(Psalm 34:17-20) 2:10 Symposium:‘DoJustasYouHaveResolved

in Your Heart’ Showing Generosity (2 Corinthians 9:7) Widening Out in Love (Romans 15:7) Forgiving One Another Freely (Ephesians 4:32) Remaining Faithful to Your Marriage Mate

(Malachi 2:13, 14) Reaching Out in the Congregation (1 Timothy 3:1) Living Up to Your Dedication (Daniel 1:8)

3:10 SongNo.95andAnnouncements 3:20 Full-TimeServiceHelpsSafeguardtheHeart—How?

(Psalm 45:1) 3:40 ListentoThoseWhoLoveYouFromtheHeart

(Proverbs 17:17) 4:00 RejoiceinYourYouth!(Ecclesiastes11:9–12:1) 4:20 InculcateGod’sWordinLittleHearts

(Deuteronomy 6:4-7; 31:12) 4:55 SongNo.89andClosingPrayer

Afternoon

SUNDAY 8

‘Serve Jehovah With a Complete Heart’

—1 Chronicles 28:9

9:20 Music 9:30 SongNo.110andPrayer 9:40 Symposium:ServeJehovahWithYourWholeHeart,

asDid... Hannah (1 Samuel 1:18) Samuel (1 Samuel 2:26) Abigail (1 Samuel 25:32, 33) Elijah (1 Kings 18:42) Jonah (Jonah 3:4; 4:1) Mary (Luke 1:34, 38) Martha (John 11:25-27) Peter (Proverbs 24:16)

11:00 SongNo.61andAnnouncements 11:10 PublicBibleDiscourse:

“The Former Things Will Not . . . Come Up Into the Heart” (Isaiah 65:13, 14, 17-19, 21-23)

11:40 SummaryofTheWatchtower 12:10 SongNo.134andIntermission

1:25 Music 1:35 SongNo.73 1:40 Drama:WhatIsTrueLove?

(Proverbs 22:3; 1 John 4:8) 2:45 SongNo.36andAnnouncements 2:55 NeverLetYourHeartBecomeTerrified!

(2 Chronicles 20:15, 17; 1 Peter 5:8, 9) 3:40 SongNo.49andClosingPrayer

Link to worldwide locations for one near you:  http://www.jw-media.org/gbl/20120518.htm

xoxo