Tuesday, November 08, 2011

A Sweet Friend

I miss being at Women of Faith. It's so strange to state something like that and I'm not sure if I can explain it so that it makes sense.

I feel as though I walked into the weekend with raw and open wounds and this weekend was like salve, and my wounds started to heal a bit. But now, returning to "real life", I'm afraid that this new healing will be ripped away, exposing the wounds again.

Actually, I'm terrified of that. I want to remember every word I heard. I want to keep the safe feeling I had.

I keep reading and re-reading my notes from the weekend and listening to the Rejoice worship cd that I purchased, trying to keep my head back where it's been.

While there is much for me to still share with you, I can't wait any longer to tell you about a wonderful woman I got to meet on Saturday: Angie Smith from Bring The Rain. While I've been blessed to know Angie for some time now, seeing her face-to-face took things from an online friendship to making our friendship solid in my heart.

We'd been messaging each other on Friday trying to figure out when we could meet up in her schedule but weren't able to make it happen that day. It felt so weird to be so close yet not be able to see her. I'm a hugger and I was just itchin' to give that sweet girl a big squeeze.

I woke up on Saturday morning and decided to just let things be what they would be. If I was able to make it to her book signing, I would. But if I couldn't then I would have to be ok with that.

Jen and I arrived at the arena about five minutes after the session started. The worship team was singing and the place was full of energy. I was singing away when I saw a woman coming down the aisle looking for someone. Just as her eyes met mine I realized who it was.

It was Angie. And she was looking for me.

I started to make my way to the end of the aisle with a polite "excuse me, excuse me" but the closer I got to her it became more "move! move!"

My apologies to the woman on the aisle seat...her toes may never be the same again.

We hugged and hugged and who knows what either of us said because it was so loud but there she was. My heart was so touched that she would have left her spot on the Women of Faith porch to come and find me. Later on I would learn how she wasn't allowed to do that. She's a rule breaker, that one.

I looked forward to hearing her speak and while my heart just ached for her as she shared about the devastating loss of her precious Audrey, I was so encouraged by the depths of her faith. She owned that stage, making us all laugh and cry alongside her.

I decided that I would leave just before the conference ended and head upstairs to her signing table. I'd brought my copy of What Women Fear just in case. I was the fifth or sixth person in line and quickly learned that the line would be cut off at 20. Whew!

I'll admit, I did feel somewhat guilty for taking up a spot in that lineup, considering I already had a chance to meet her but I kept my mouth shut. I figured the Lord would forgive me!

The woman waiting in line behind me was a hard core Angie fan and was telling me facts about her like she was hosting a trivia contest. "Did you know..." and more "did you know..." It was more than a little creepy. Just sayin'.

Then it was my turn :-) We hugged and hugged some more, and again...who knows who said what because we were both talking over each other. Yes, people. She truly is as genuine and kind as she comes across on her blog. Even more so. And funny. I put my purse down and leaned on that table all comfortable-like as if we had all the time in the world.

Oh I saw you giving me the stink eye, Trivia-girl. I saw.

One of my big expressions is "pics or it didn't happen" so, here's my pic.



Just so you know, I told Angie I was going to blog about this and drop her name like a ton of bricks and she was a-ok with it. She told me if I didn't blog about us meeting then she was going to break into my blog and do it herself. Ha.

We hugged and hugged and then our time was over. I felt sad leaving. There was so much I wanted to say to her that our emails and tweets couldn't convey. I hope she felt them in my hugs.

I love you dearly, sweet Angie. I'm so glad we got to meet, and your inscription in my book was lovely.

And that concludes my name-dropping for today.

:-D

Photobucket

10 comments:

  1. And now I'm all weepy, and so happy for you, and while I didn't get to meet Angie, I totally tweeted about my girl-crush on her while in Indy, and Women of Faith tweeted back laughing that they had one on her too, and it was so amazing just to hear her speak and share, and laugh, and cry (and she doesn't look like a beaver when she cries, I don't care what she says!) and this is a monster of a run on sentence, but I totally think that if I were saying this out loud this would be the same way it would be coming out of my mouth. Whew. I'm SO, so glad you were able to get to go! *muah!*

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  2. Oh, let me picked up that name you dropped! Teasing! I am soooo happy for you! Can't wait to keep reading how God worked in your life there!

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  3. That is really awesome Kate. I'm so glad you had such a fulfilling time! xoxo

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  4. soooo jealous! Of you going to WoF and of you talking with THE Angie Smith!!! You lucky lucky girl! Glad you got both opportunties - you deserve it.

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  5. Look I finally figured out how to rig it so I could comment again, aren't you excited?

    I knew the Women of Faith Conference was going to be a huge blessing in your life. Why else would God make it possible for you to go for free? I'm so glad He was able to break through just before you went so you are doubly blessed. Can I add though, don't be afraid to go forward from here. God wants you to go forward and be mighty and powerful when you do it. You're changed and you can take your changes out and make a difference, don't be afraid of it, rest in it.

    Thought you'd like this song, I am listening to it now and thinking, "Hey, I should share this with Kate!" He's read One Thousand Gifts like five times and then wrote this song. The whole album is here (the first one is the one I was referring to):

    http://soundcloud.com/shaungroves/sets/third-world-symphony/

    And his interview with Ann Voskamp (on her farm) for the release of this album is here:

    http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/08/what-the-poor-give-the-rich/

    AND did you know she was in Guatemala with Compassion International and Shaun Groves right now? You can read about it on her blog after you watch the interview.

    Whew! I didn't know I was gonna share all that when I clicked over here. Totally random. Enjoy!

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  6. Hahaha. you wrote a pretty smack on description of Angie and I'm cracking up picturing you standing in front of a "trivia" fan...So fun. That's one of the best name dropping posts ever and not creepy which can be hard to accomplish :)

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  7. Melissa8:47 a.m.

    So, I had typed out another comment but Blogger was a brat and ate it.
    Your post-WoF posts have been so touching. Your pre-WoF were touching too but there's something different now. I am so thankful that you were given the opportunity to attend. I'm praying that you will continue to heal and that the words that you received over the weekend will stay with you.

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  8. Anonymous9:32 a.m.

    So this would be the point where I won't tell you that I'm going to Women of Faith in Hartford this weekend.
    I'm also not going to tell you that Angie will be there.
    Wouldn't want to create any jealousy. :p

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  9. I'm uber jealous!!!!! I love reading your heartfelt blogs!!!!! Keep em coming!!:)

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  10. Anonymous2:50 p.m.

    Ahh, Trivia Girl. The one who wouldn't let me line jump. I saw her look at me funny. It all makes sense now.

    Cassandra

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