MOPS Review - Part 1

I've been home for four days now and I keep putting off giving you a recap of my trip. Why? Well, it was so exciting, it's hard to put into words. Everything I try doesn't sound as exciting as it really was. And, I came home to a house and kids that I had been away from for five days. That's a lot of laundry, papers from school, and dishes to attend to. My children are all alive and healthy and my husband is still sane. Those are the important things!

So today is the first day that I feel like I am finally on top of the Iverson household. It feels amazing to get away and have some peace and quiet, but it is a lot of work when you get home!

My flight left last Wednesday @ 6am - or it was suppose to. I got to the airport @ 5am only to discover that the flight was delayed until 8am!!! I could have slept some more, but I walked around the Billings International Airport to kill some time. That took about 30 seconds, so the rest of the time I sat in the restaurant and organized my calendar, purse, and carry-on bag. When I went through security, I was pulled aside for a complete check, including a pat down. Because if I was a terrorist, a little plane from here to Sheridan would be my target! Thankfully, I had lots of time.

I have said "never" before, but thought that was a lesson, God had taught me. "I will never drive a 15-passenger van." "I will never live in Montana." I do recall saying would never fly in a little airplane again, but that was almost 11 years ago. Well, there was my little turbo prop to Sheridan, WY and then on to Denver. Now we discover that our flight was delayed because they had to wait on crew members to be available to fly with us for extra weight. There were three of us on the flight plus the pilot and co-pilot and the two extra crew for weight. And it was windy!! Well, I can say I survived and I'd rather not do that again!!!!

Skip ahead and say that the rest of the flight was uneventful (thankfully). I met up with my most wonderful friend, Shannon. She had meetings all day on Thursday, so I enjoyed the spa and the pool (I know, hard life!).

Okay, now the actual conference!!! Matt Redman was our worship leader! Can you believe it? It was amazing!!! God has given him an amazing gift of taking music and leading people into a worshipful spirit. I think I was in tears almost every time we had worship. It was incredible to think of everything God has done for us and how little we usually appreciate it. there were several time that I was also overcome with thoughts of my sister, Joy. Her joy is now complete! Her life is full and she is dancing with Jesus.

Then the Go Fish Guys sang for us. They have anew CD Snazzy coming out on Oct. 9th! If you have kids this is a must! Their mission is to make great kids' music that won't drive parents bonkers! And they do an amazing job at it! They have a special "mom" song on this new one and I love it! Mike & I have been listening to the CD almost constantly for the last four days! Okay, the kids too! We were able to buy the CD before it was released, but go and get it on the 9th to help their sales!!! I know I'll be there to get a few more!

And then the night ended with Salvador! What a kick-off! A bunch of screaming moms, most of whom were thankful for a break. You could tell the ones that missed their kids. They were the ones who couldn't turn their cell phones off. Okay, now my soap box, and I know I'll end up being humbled at some point, but I was really perturbed at the amount of cell phones ringing during each session. As far as I know all cell phones have a vibrate feature. Please learn how to use it!

Okay, my quiet time is gone and I'm trying to keep kids at bay, so I'll tell you about John Ortberg, Sara Groves, Liz Selzer, Veggie Tales Pirates, Laurie Smith (of Trading Spaces), Steven James, Julie Barnhill, and the Mouse. Whew, I may need part three to get all that in!

The gators that were inside the hotel. (Or my children waiting for a snack!)