By Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites
Praying for those not attending a conference (and wish they were)
I folded my too-full, purple suitcase closed and leaned into it, begging it to zip closed, and mumbled a quick prayer for writer friends getting on the road today. I knew I’d have a longer prayer time in the car on my long drive. Dragging the last suitcase behind me, I punched in the coordinates to get to one of my favorite conferences and climbed into the car.
I love praying for writer friends. I have a special order for ongoing, daily requests and then another place for prayer concerns that pop up momentarily. In my requests-that-get-mentioned-every-day section, I enjoy a time of calling out to the Lord on behalf of my writer friends. Sometimes, only names and “please bless” kinds of words are shared. Other times, deep, heartfelt longings for answers leave my lips and make it to God’s ear.
For the last month or so, like I always do before a writers’ conference, I’d prayed for directors, assistants, admin folks, staff, fellow faculty and instructors, and most especially, conferees. I felt like I covered everyone involved in one fashion or another.
Then God nudged me to include another group of writers: those NOT attending the conference this year. Honestly, I first thought it was a strange idea. But then I remembered some dear friends who weren’t journeying to the conference.
Praying for Those Not Attending A Writing Conference (And Wish They Were) by @JLavenderWrites on @BRMCWC #Writing #Writinglife #BRMCWC Share on XThere was my close friend whose elderly father had taken a tumble, fracturing his wrist and knocking out several teeth. “I just can’t leave him now because he’s facing oral surgery and rehab.” She was devastated to miss the conference, but knew family obligations required her to stay behind this time.
Another friend really wanted to attend but a recent move left the bank account too depleted to register. And then another young woman I knew couldn’t leave her toddler and nursing infant, but especially wanted to glean from the keynote speaker this year who promised to share info about the genre she’s writing in.
I’ve also known of one woman who desired an opportunity to attend a writers’ conference to further her craft but didn’t feel as if she had the encouragement or support of her breadwinner-spouse. And sadly, one who’d been wounded several years ago by the words of a fellow writer and hadn’t mustered the courage to return to another conference.
The more I pondered, the more I thought about the handful of individuals I knew personally who would not be at the conference this year but really wanted to be. I spent time in prayer for each person and asked God to give them extra-special blessings during the week of the conference. “And someone to speak encouragement into their lives in the next few days about their writing journey,” I requested.
Just a couple of years ago, I was one of those feeling disappointed and “uninvited to the party,” and yet it was for a joyous occasion – my new granddaughter’s arrival. I felt so left out, knowing most of my writing friend besties were together at a conference I so wanted to be part of!
My prayer time while driving to the conference gave me lots of minutes to pray for others I knew who, like me, were making their way to the writing event. But I spent even more time during this prayer session praying for those who didn’t have the conference center punched into their GPS. I hope I’ll remember God’s nudging to pray for those not in attendance – but wish they could be – for other big events in the future, too.
Julie Lavender is the author of Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime, Advent Stories for Bedtime, A Gingerbread House,and more. She and her husband enjoy writing children’s educational books together, too.
