—1

My entire events team just got back from our on-site planning trip to Dallas for our January conference. I would love to go into the beauty of the Hyatt Regency, and how much I love meeting and working with different CSMs (conference services managers).  Our CSM, Rizwan, has been helpful, and he tells us the funniest (and interesting) things.  I would love to elaborate more on his ideas to take over Wolfgang Puck Five Sixty atop the Reunion Tower with my co-worker Sean—naming their masterpiece of cuisine “Sean, Rizwan, and Puck”—sorry, Mr. Wolfgang, they have you outnumbered. I would love to elaborate on just how much steak my team can eat, how we found the floating JFK memorial, and just how much we make each other laugh.

But I will leave it at the basics. We came. We saw. We planned. Now I would like to get some sleep.

—2

Okay, so maybe you would like some more detail, and I would love to give it, but it is truly so hard to sum up how lucky I am to be doing an event planning job I love, and working with people who are just so great.  So here are just a couple snap shots from the trip. I’ll put it this way, we work hard, but we have a lot of fun, too.

—3

While in Dallas, I also was able to spend some time visiting my cousin, Clark, and his girlfriend, Meghan. They made me some amazing pork chili—I didn't leave with the recipe, but I haven’t given up on it yet.  I rarely get to see my cousins, so any chances we have to sneak in a visit are a must.

—4

I am very sad to see our fellowship of the Catholicism Series end next week.  Tuesday nights, our lovely friend, Kate, was willing to host us for dinner, wine, time with some wonderful women, and a video from the series. It was one of the most recreational activities I have taken part in for quite some time. It is just so rejuvenating to learn about your faith, eat great food, and laugh with friends—fellowship and warm hospitality at its finest.

—5

Thankfully, I have another study starting up to take its place. I will be gathering with a couple of other friends to read St. Teresa of Avila’s The Interior Castle. I’m sure this book will really shake things up.

—6

When I woke up this morning, it looked like this outside. So much for fall…

 —7

Has anyone ever talked about the fact that sometimes finding 7 whole things to write about is really hard?  I have officially decided to make 7QT and every-other-week project.  I really enjoy writing, and I am finding this to be a good outlet, but it is hard to keep up with sometimes. So instead of sitting down at the keyboard to quickly bang out a Quick Takes, I would like to give it more time so that the whole experience can be more of a leisurely experience. 

But I do have an exciting post coming up next week! Stay tuned for something theological, feminist, witty, and empowering from myself and guest contributor, Michelle. 

For years I have tried to reconcile being a detail-oriented planner with being a good follower of Christ. There is so much talk about how we need to surrender things and, for lack of a better phrase, “let go and let God.” So I would tend to consider my nature extra sinful, as I am prone to making decisions and thinking through the logistics.

I'll be the first to admit, I have my controlling moments, and yes, like most people, I do need to work on more trustfully surrendering my life to the will of God, regardless of the situation (Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence will shake up anyone’s world- give it a read sometime). But aside from that, for a while, there was still the anxiety that I was doing something wrong. I’m not even really sure what made this anxiety go away. Probably much is due to prayer, and the fact that event coordinators plan, plan, plan, but we have to be incredibly flexible because last minute changes are just a part of the job, and of life.

We all have our particular abilities and strengths, and we should exercise and even improve them.  Details are just one of mine. In Mass a few days ago the priest said something that struck me in his homily. He was talking about married life versus religious.  He commented that married people really have to live in the realities of this world. There is just no way around it.  There are so many details that cannot be ignored in order to maintain a life, home, and take care of others. Religious have the opportunity to live a little more ascetic of a lifestyle. So thankfully, my natural strengths should help me better ease into my vocation. This did give me a bit of a paradigm shift.  Maybe I don’t have to focus less on keeping life in order, but rather I can make these details, as part of my vocation, part of what allows me to grow in holiness.

It reminds me of the time I was venting to a priest about how I felt I just couldn’t make enough time to pray as much as I felt I should—to which he replied, “Well you don’t live in a monastery!” He reminded me that having a job, relationships, and daily tasks is part of life, and we have to embrace all of it- so long as we are including prayer as a part of our lives. 

We can’t ignore the world and the details. We live in the world even though we are not of the world. And to function, society needs the free spirits, the innovative thinkers, and those with an eye for logistics. So use whatever your gifts are for the betterment of your vocation, your life, and your world.