“The Seminar”

One of my favorite things about Lifest has always been the speakers they have. Twice a day, on Friday and Saturday, they shut everything down and have six or eight different speakers set up all over the grounds, giving hour long seminars on all kinds of subjects. Most of the talks were geared towards youth, topics such as abstinence, self-esteem, making healthy choices. There were always a few speakers though who appealed to an older crowd, discussing keeping the love in your marriage or ministering to others. Jay Bakker spoke one year about what it was like being the child of mega-televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and how he survived the insanity of their downfall.

The speaker I remember the most – well – I can’t remember his name. I can recall however his entire talk. He spoke about how God has a plan for all of us. We may not see it at the time, but the most benign event that occurred years ago, turns out to be the catharsis that leads to something bigger, which leads to something even bigger. One tiny incident that you were barely even aware happened, you find out years later changed the life of a total stranger.

Or you look back at that day when you sent your son to a Christian concert and can clearly see how that is going to cause you to go to Africa.