Ready to Pay It Forward

I am glad to be back after my four-day, media-free Tastefully Simple Leadership Conference in San Antonio, TX.  It was the longest I've been away from my whole family in...well, since I started a family!

I left on Thursday with the painful realization that I would not know a single soul. My roommate was a stranger, no one on my team was attending, I was really only going because I'd earned the trip for free. This all occurred to me as I packed last week.  What was I thinking...going to a conference with 500 strangers?!?!

My sweet mom prayed with me on the way to the airport, but butterflies still crept into the pit of my stomach. 

As I boarded the plane, God reminded me of the power of prayer.  I passed several center seats, choosing to sit in between two ladies. (Less likelihood that they would smell stinky or attempt to flirt with me - can you tell I've had fun experiences when flying solo?) I sat down, got situated, and pulled out the book that our founder and CEO wrote.  The gal on the aisle immediately asked my name.

"Katie Roose," I said, searching her face to see if she looked familiar. Her face lit up as she said, "I know exactly who you are!  I'm Melody - you're on Jen's team, right?"  

There were a total of three Phoenix-based consultants flying in to attend this 500++ attendee conference. And I sat by the ONE rep on my flight?  Seriously God?  You are hilariously ironic.

After two hours of chatting, Melody and I swapped cell numbers and she seemed willing to let me follow her around like a puppy. I was thankful (so thankful!) to know someone...a familiar face in a sea of people who had most likely attended these events in the past.  

I didn't realize how thankful I was until I turned around at some point, later that afternoon, and Melody had vanished. She went back to get her water bottle in the room we'd just left and I found myself feeling awkward and alone. When she appeared again, I made sure she knew just how glad I was that we met on the plane!

We didn't hang out every moment of every day of the trip, but being able to text her to say, "Heading down to breakfast," was such a comforting feeling for my (suddenly) insecure personality. Especially since most of the people at the conference knew someone...or a dozen...or 50...

I left on Sunday afternoon promising myself that I'd make a conscious effort to look for people who might be traveling alone in the future.  This conference pumped me up and I plan to attend many others, hoping to bring girls from my team with me, but I'm excited at the possibility of being someone's Melody next time.  In fact, I plan to pray that God would lead me to just the right person (or people) who might be feeling lonely and insecure.

We get so caught up in ourselves and in our own comfort level, being around certain friends or getting to know certain people in social situations that too often the quiet ones get lost in the crowd.

Are you willing to step out and help bridge the gap for someone in your next social situation? Whether at school, church, work or at a neighborhood pot luck...keep your eyes (and heart) open for opportunities to make a new friend.

My lifelong friend, Michelle, drove out from Houston to visit me on Saturday.  We ran into "George Jefferson" on the Riverwalk outside of the Hard Rock Cafe.  Most of you, dear readers, are probably too young to even know his character from the 70s! But we were excited to have a momentary brush with fame...