Just... wow.

I was floundering for community.

I wanted to tell the truth.

And my experience in the Christian community is that we {women} tell the happy truth and smile and encourage and "pray about it" but we're afraid to get messy... down in the dirty nitty gritty that is life to say what we really need to say, to hear what we really need to hear.  And my heart was heavy with the search for the okay to say all the real stuff, the good and bad and ugly.

And then I found {in}courage... this virtual beach house where we're all invited to put our sandy feet up and laugh and cry and get real... and tell the truth.

So I did.  I told them who I was, that my passion was for you, that my fervent prayer was that my mess would connect to your heart and we'd all just go along doing life together, arm in arm, all these sandy feet on the table.

And this morning, I got the happy news that {in}courage/DaySpring honored me with the writer's craft sponsorship to the Relevant 2011 Conference, in my favorite quiet spot in the world, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania this October.  Something I dared to hope for more than I probably should have.  And I am encouraged, and it feels like a beautiful day after a dreadfully hard weekend.

Can't wait to meet you sister-friends that will be at Relevant, too.  And introduce yourself.  I don't yet know anyone else that will be there, and I so look forward to all that this sponsorship, and this conference, holds.

And.... wow.  Just... wow.