Last weekend, I attended the 2014 Faith and Culture Writers Conference at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. Here is a short description of the conference from the website:
“Both inspirational and practical,the Faith & Culture Writers Conference is a place of diverse community, camaraderie, and connection. You will be encouraged, enriched, and challenged to live the creative life that God has called you to. Join us and take your art to the next level while discovering your unique voice and place to house your story.”
Cornelia Becker Seigneur, Director, Faith and Culture Writers Conference.
Like last year it was an amazing experience, and over the next week I will be writing about my impressions, what I learned, all the great things, and the few things I would change for the better, on my professional site (DavidOzab.com). Here I want to write about the unquestioned highlight of the conference, which had nothing whatsoever to do with writing.
I got to hold a seven-month-old baby.
Dads, Moms, you all get this. There is no experience that can compete with a bright eyed, curious, smiling and laughing little one. A fellow writer and foster mom brought this precious little girl with her last weekend. Like I said, she was seven months old, small for her age, and had probably been through a lot in her short little life. But she was bright and happy and to a dad missing his own not-so-little-anymore girl she was a magnet.
“Hello there beautiful!” I said.
She replied with a glowing smile.
“Would you like to hold her?” my friend asked.
We both knew the answer. I held her, I bounced her, and I sang to her. She grabbed my nose and my mouth, and played with my beard.
It was wonderful, and hands-down the highlight of the conference.
Please check out my other posts on Faith and Culture 2014. They’ll all be linked here as I write them.