National Youth Workers Convention

Jennifer and I attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Los Angeles. They really do a magnificent job of putting together excellent workshops and amazing worship experiences! We listened to amazing speakers and enjoyed the musical talents of the Daraja Choir - a wonderful children's choir from Kenya called .
One of the highlights for me was getting to meet Lisa Anderson. I was well aware of her talent as an actress through Madea's Family Reunion but I was blown away by her portrayal of a woman whose life was changed through Compassion International. She is an amazing person!

Thanks to facebook, I reconnected with a friend I haven't seen since she left Marshall in 6th grade. Kristin contacted me a few weeks earlier and when I told her I was going to be in LA, we decided to meet for lunch. She and her husband were kind enough to drive into LA to meet us since we didn't have any transportation. It was a wonderful time of catching up and walking down memory lane.

My fabulous friend, Melissa, drove in to spend the day with us. We took the Topless bus tour around the city spending a very brief time exploring Hollywood Blvd and enjoying all the famous footprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

We ended up running to catch our bus before it left us stranded on the other side of town! We decided to get off in China Town and walk back to the hotel which was a hefty walk. I'm sure we went through parts of town that a local would have warned us against but sometimes it's better not to know.

As soon as the conference ended, Jennifer and I hailed a cab to Paramount Studios to have lunch with my friend (former youth) Ben. Ben works for the Dr. Phil Show and he gave us our own personal tour. We even caught the filming of an episode of ???. It was funny to watch them film a scene with snow and winter clothing on a relatively warm day. Nothing brings me more joy than to see my "kids" pursuing their dreams - and I enjoy living vicariously through their adventures!