{"id":317,"date":"2004-12-26T16:41:09","date_gmt":"2004-12-27T00:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/archives\/2004\/12\/26\/a-most-peculiar-conference-precursor\/"},"modified":"2004-12-27T17:06:13","modified_gmt":"2004-12-28T01:06:13","slug":"a-most-peculiar-conference-precursor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2004\/12\/26\/a-most-peculiar-conference-precursor","title":{"rendered":"A Most Peculiar Conference Precursor"},"content":{"rendered":"

As many of you are no doubt aware, I am coor\u00addi\u00adnat\u00ading Chi Alpha\u2019s San Diego win\u00adter con\u00adfer\u00adence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now it is vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly axiomat\u00adic that every\u00adthing goes crazy pri\u00ador to a Chi Alpha con\u00adfer\u00adence. For exam\u00adple, last year I got a tick\u00adet for run\u00adning a stop sign as I was prepar\u00ading to head up to our Lake Tahoe win\u00adter con\u00adfer\u00adence<\/a>. For the record, I still dis\u00adpute the legit\u00adi\u00adma\u00adcy of that tick\u00adet. I think the cop was asleep and was star\u00adtled into con\u00adscious\u00adness by the vibrant hue of my car. But I digress\u2026<\/p>\n

This year things have been crazy as well. Let me high\u00adlight one thread of our con\u00adfer\u00adence preparations\u2013the wor\u00adship.<\/p>\n

This year we part\u00aded with tra\u00addi\u00adtion and booked an out\u00adside band instead of ask\u00ading one of our Chi Alpha groups to lead wor\u00adship. An unex\u00adpect\u00aded con\u00adse\u00adquence was that unlike our Chi Alpha groups, the band does\u00adn\u2019t nor\u00admal\u00adly bring their own sound sys\u00adtem with them.<\/p>\n

Now as any\u00adone who has min\u00adis\u00adtered to col\u00adle\u00adgians will attest, hav\u00ading a good sound sys\u00adtem is fair\u00adly impor\u00adtant. Most stu\u00addents are audio\u00adphiles or pre\u00adtend to be, and so get\u00adting the right gear makes a dif\u00adfer\u00adence.<\/p>\n

It is also ridicu\u00adlous\u00adly expen\u00adsive. We found a com\u00adpe\u00adtent sound guy who also works with equip\u00adment rentals and he did some research and found us the low, low price of $4,500.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s more than our entire con\u00adfer\u00adence bud\u00adget (exclud\u00ading hous\u00ading). <\/p>\n

So we went back to the draw\u00ading board. <\/p>\n

I should men\u00adtion that I was strand\u00aded in Louisiana with\u00adout cell phone cov\u00ader\u00adage most of the time that we were try\u00ading to fix this. I seem to be aller\u00adgic to the entire state of Lou\u00adsiana, because every time I go home I get major aller\u00adgy attacks. So I\u2019m grumpy from my aller\u00adgies and unable to call any\u00adone to make alter\u00adnate plans for the sound equip\u00adment. <\/p>\n

Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly we got back home and I start\u00aded work\u00ading hard to find a back\u00adup sound sys\u00adtem. We accost\u00aded Chi Alpha min\u00adistries, church\u00ades, and ran\u00addom passer\u00adby to no avail.<\/p>\n

Final\u00adly my good friend Jeff Devoll came through for us. Jeff has got one of the nicest sound sys\u00adtems I\u2019ve ever seen and is also one of the nicest (and sharpest) guys I\u2019ve ever met. So we were able to get an out\u00adra\u00adgeous\u00adly good sys\u00adtem as a very rea\u00adson\u00adable price.<\/p>\n

Now we had the prob\u00adlem of trans\u00adport\u00ading this sound sys\u00adtem the 500 miles from Sacra\u00admen\u00adto down to San Diego.<\/p>\n

Instant suc\u00adcess\u2013our min\u00adistry in Sacra\u00admen\u00adto<\/a> has a trail\u00ader for trans\u00adport\u00ading sound gear.<\/p>\n

The heady swell of suc\u00adcess was soon dashed on the hard rocks of real\u00adi\u00adty. We had a trail\u00ader but no means to haul it.<\/p>\n

So we called every sin\u00adgle Chi Alpha min\u00adistry in north\u00adern Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia to see who had a pick\u00adup truck or an SUV or even a tow-capa\u00adble van.<\/p>\n

No one. None of the staff and none of their stu\u00addents have any\u00adthing suit\u00adable.<\/p>\n

This is in marked con\u00adtrast to my years of min\u00adistry in Spring\u00adfield, MO. Find\u00ading tow vehi\u00adcles was easy. Lim\u00adit\u00ading myself to female acquain\u00adtances alone I could have drummed up a truck in under five min\u00adutes. But in this eco\u00adtopia no one seems to own any\u00adthing sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly larg\u00ader than a chip\u00admunk.<\/p>\n

At this point, I should men\u00adtion that I\u2019m still sick and unable to think as clear\u00adly as I would like. And the \u201cthis point\u201d that I\u2019m ref\u00ader\u00adenc\u00ading is Christ\u00admas day.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right\u2013I\u2019m call\u00ading peo\u00adple on Christ\u00admas day to find a hauler. \u201cMer\u00adry Christ\u00admas! Do you have a truck I can bor\u00adrow?\u201d <\/p>\n

Alas, there were to be no tow-capa\u00adble Christ\u00admas gifts for me.<\/p>\n

On the day after Christ\u00admas we decide we have no choice but to rent an exor\u00adbi\u00adtant\u00adly priced and uncom\u00adfort\u00adable mov\u00ading truck (we attempt\u00aded to rent a pick\u00adup truck first, but no com\u00adpa\u00adny was will\u00ading to rent us a pick\u00adup to haul a trailer\u2013I guess tow\u00ading is con\u00adsid\u00adered a Bad Thing).<\/p>\n

Now in order to rent a truck you need a dri\u00adver. I thought I had one lined up, but he did\u00adn\u2019t work out. I then thought I had a cou\u00adple lined up, but they did\u00adn\u2019t work out. I thought I had anoth\u00ader guy lined up but he was head\u00ading to Tahoe to spend time with his fam\u00adi\u00adly pri\u00ador to con\u00adfer\u00adence. I final\u00adly called my ace in the hole and he was dri\u00adving to Tahoe to spend time with his fiancee pri\u00adot to con\u00adfer\u00adence.<\/p>\n

What can I say? Tahoe is pop\u00adu\u00adlar.<\/p>\n

To make things even more tumul\u00adtuous, the kind\u00adly Mr. Devoll is in the midst of mov\u00ading and has left a cru\u00adcial piece of sound equip\u00adment at his old place in Napa.<\/p>\n

It is now Sun\u00adday Decem\u00adber 26th and Paula and I are fly\u00ading out at 10:00am tomor\u00adrow. We need to get this tak\u00aden care of pron\u00adto. <\/p>\n

To our hor\u00adror, we learn that all the rental places close at noon on Sun\u00adday. Even if we find a dri\u00adver we\u2019re hosed\u2013we\u2019ll be on a plane before we get a chance to rent a vehi\u00adcle.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s around 1:00PM Sun\u00adday after\u00adnoon, the equip\u00adment has to leave tomor\u00adrow, parts are still in Napa, we have no dri\u00adver, and we have no truck.<\/p>\n

And then the mag\u00adic hap\u00adpened.<\/p>\n

Tahoe boy (with fiancee) is pass\u00ading right next to Napa on his way to Tahoe. So he and his fiancee dri\u00adve to Napa and rum\u00admage through Jef\u00adf\u2019s garage look\u00ading for a 24-chan\u00adnel mix\u00ader and a box of micro\u00adphones and cables. I coach them through the process by look\u00ading at a Microsoft Word sketch of Jef\u00adf\u2019s house marked the like\u00adly loca\u00adtion of the equip\u00adment which he sent me in the wee hours of the morn\u00ading. It takes a while but they final\u00adly find it.<\/p>\n

And then we dis\u00adcov\u00ader that our sound guy (the $4,500 sound sys\u00adtem guy) is going to be dri\u00adving a truck full of music instru\u00adments down to San Diego in a rental truck any\u00adway and is hap\u00adpy to bring our sound sys\u00adtem as well.<\/p>\n

And then we dis\u00adcov\u00ader that the sound guy is going to be hang\u00ading out that night across the street from the Tahoe cou\u00adple who have the extra sound equip\u00adment, so the hand\u00adoff will be easy.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the way it always hap\u00adpens. Every\u00adthing goes nuts and then every\u00adthing works out. To wrench 2 Corinthi\u00adans 4:8\u20139 from its con\u00adtext: <\/p>\n

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; per\u00adplexed, but not in despair; per\u00adse\u00adcut\u00aded, but not aban\u00addoned; struck down, but not destroyed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Relieved, Paula and I turn to prepar\u00ading for our trip tomor\u00adrow morn\u00ading and dis\u00adcov\u00ader that we mis\u00adbooked our tick\u00adets and are leav\u00ading at 9pm instead of 9am, which mess\u00ades up sev\u00ader\u00adal parts of our sched\u00adule down south.<\/p>\n

Aargh!<\/p>\n

To add insult to injury, I\u2019m get\u00adting a promi\u00adnent facial pim\u00adple in the first time in for\u00adev\u00ader. That\u2019s right\u2013take anoth\u00ader look at the pho\u00adto on th e top right. See the blem\u00adish next to my nose?<\/p>\n

Also, I\u2019ve spent much time on my cell phone today that if cell phones real\u00adly do cause can\u00adcer I\u2019ll be grow\u00ading a blue rib\u00adbon tumor out of my ear by tomor\u00adrow morn\u00ading.<\/p>\n

At least I\u2019m not sick any\u00admore. <\/p>\n

But things will work out\u2013the mag\u00adic will hap\u00adpen and the con\u00adfer\u00adence will be a smash\u00ading suc\u00adcess.<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s a gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly accept\u00aded prin\u00adci\u00adple that the more hec\u00adtic the pre-con\u00adfer\u00adence brouha\u00adha is the bet\u00adter the con\u00adfer\u00adence winds up being.<\/p>\n

Based on our sound sys\u00adtem prob\u00adlems alone we\u2019re expect\u00ading either glob\u00adal revival to break out or the rap\u00adture to occur. We\u2019re not sure which one, but be ready just in case either comes to pass next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As many of you are no doubt aware, I am coor\u00addi\u00adnat\u00ading Chi Alpha\u2019s San Diego win\u00adter con\u00adfer\u00adence. Now it is vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly axiomat\u00adic that every\u00adthing goes crazy pri\u00ador to a Chi Alpha con\u00adfer\u00adence. For exam\u00adple, last year I got a tick\u00adet for run\u00adning a stop sign as I was prepar\u00ading to head up to our Lake \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u201cA Most Pecu\u00adliar Con\u00adfer\u00adence Pre\u00adcur\u00adsor\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stanfordministry-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-57","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}