Special Moments at Mount Hermon 2016
I’ve been home from Mount Hermon for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I’d share some of the wonderful memories that are still resonating in my heart.
I loved:
- Seeing lots of old friends and making a bunch of fun new ones
- Getting to know people I previously communicated with only (or mainly) via e-mail
- Making divine connections … and being a divine connection for other people
Directing the FANTASTIC critique team, and helping conferees make the right connections with faculty members, which were major highlights for them
- A conferee telling a fellow faculty member, “Kathy Ide is so wonderful, because she cares more about helping other people get what they want than getting whatever she wants for herself.” I don’t know what, in particular, gave her that impression, but I consider it to be the highest compliment I can imagine!
Getting my author copies of 21 Days of Joy: Stories that Celebrate Mom at 8:22 the night before I left for the conference so I could have all four books in the Fiction Lover’s Devotional series on the book table.
Walking into the auditorium for the Palm Sunday service and hearing Hillsong’s “Still” (Find Rest, My Soul) sung by a male quartet called Kaoma that was absolutely incredible! (You can hear it here.) This was a special gift from the Holy Spirit just for me because God has been putting that song on my heart for the past couple of months as I’ve stressed out a bit over the @OCCWC Orange County Christian Writers’ Conference. I started praying for a flood of people to register so we can make ends meet, and not really living the “Know His power in quietness and trust” part very well. But when I got to the part in the song that says, “Father, You are King over the FLOOD,” I sensed God assuring me that He is in charge of the good things as well as the bad, and He can send a “flood” if that’s His will … and if it’s not, He will bring something else really good out of it. So hearing that song on Palm Sunday morning was a precious balm to my soul.
Doug Newton’s unique take, during the Palm Sunday service, on the Scripture passage in Matthew 13:44, where Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure a man discovered in a field.” Doug presented that Jesus is the man who, in his joy and excitement, “sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field—and get the treasure, too!” (TLB). And we are that treasure.
- Just happening to “coincidentally” be at exactly the right places at precisely the right moments to help some people at the conference who really needed someone with my specific background and past experiences to commiserate with them and help them take steps toward restoration and healing. And through that series of experiences, realizing afresh that God really does direct every single step I take, and I can trust that He is doing what He wants to do with my life.
After I got home, it took a full day just to go through the e-mails that came in while I was gone! (Internet connectivity was only available in a couple of places, and I couldn’t find the time to get to those places with my busy schedule.) But throughout that first day home, I got e-mail notifications from people who’d posted pictures from the conference on Facebook and tagged me on them. So I got to look at all those pictures and remember all the beautiful people I connected with and the fun things that happened there.
If you’ve never been to Mount Hermon (or another Christian writers’ conference), I hope you will consider doing so. (Maybe the @OCCWC Orange County Christian Writers’ Conference April 15-16?) It will be an experience you’ll never forget. And it will probably provide you with encouragement and connections that will transform your writing and boost your career!
April 11, 2016 @ 1:34 pm
It was so great to connect with you at Mount Hermon.
I’ll be praying for the conference (and you!) this weekend! Husband’s birthday festivities preclude my attendance, but my heart will be there.
April 11, 2016 @ 2:14 pm
Mount Hermon has been on my wish list for years. Maybe someday we can make that wish come true. That one and PENCON.
April 11, 2016 @ 2:19 pm
There’s still time to get in on PENCON this year!
April 11, 2016 @ 2:16 pm
I so loved connecting with you at Mount Hermon, Sheila. Thanks for your prayers for hte conference (and me!) this weekend! Wish you could be there. Maybe next year?????
April 11, 2016 @ 5:05 pm
Kathy, What a treat to meet you! And to be able to claim you as one of my newly found friends. You blessed many of us. It was my first Mt Hermon event and for a newbie, it was overwhelming. But with grace and understanding you dealt with our frustrations as you helped us get in line to meet editors. And how I loved those moments sitting at your table in the evening as we shared our interests, stories and thousands of questions.
Blessings to you
April 11, 2016 @ 5:26 pm
I loved hanging out with you at Mount Hermon, too, Marlene! Hope you can make it next year as well, when it won’t be as overwhelming as your first time. 🙂
April 12, 2016 @ 12:25 am
What a beautiful post, Kathy. God showed up in the most amazing ways for me at Mount Hermon this year. You were a big part of that. Thank you for being God’s instrument of truth and grace. You have been a special part of my writing journey through the years and I look forward to getting to know you even better as I venture over to the editing side of things. I can’t wait to rub shoulders with folks at PENCON. I’m so thankful to have an expert in my corner. You are truly an angel.
April 13, 2016 @ 11:27 pm
Fun times signing books with you, Kathy! Every one of the Fiction Lover’s Devotionals is beautiful, and I’m so proud to have stories in two of them! Thank you so much for the opportunity.
March 4, 2018 @ 12:02 pm
Hi Kathy,
I share your joy over the sacredness of the writer’s conference at Mt. Hermon. I’ve been there twice. God pushed me to write something l feel is clearly inspired. Now I live in Torrance and perhaps you can help me find an agent?
Cindy Hartridge 😊🙏🏼
March 6, 2018 @ 1:23 pm
The best way to find an agent is to attend a writers conference where agents are taking appointments … like Mount Hermon!