Festival of Faith & Writing 2010: More Fun

Friday morning, Leslie Leyland Fields and I made plans to connect during the morning coffee hour. She was running a little late, so as I stood around the refreshment area, I spotted Keri Wyatt Kent. I explained that I’m chronicling my time at the Festival in photos, so she kindly posed with me.She said she was here with some writer friends. Late Friday night I encountered Keri with Tracey Bianchi who wrote Green Mama (the woman who remembered my book The Contemplative Mom). It was then I discovered she was one of Keri’s writer friends. In that same evening encounter, I met another of Keri’s friends, Shayne Moore, who has a book coming out entitled Global Soccer Mom. She had a really cute elevator pitch, but the details escape me at the moment. Besides, I’m getting ahead of myself. The Keri-Tracey-Shayne meeting didn’t happen until late Friday evening, and I’ve only gotten as far as Friday morning. Leslie hasn’t even shown up yet!I drifted from Keri, who was enjoying coffee with a friend, and spotted Jim Schmotzer again, sitting by the fireplace reading a book. I plopped down next to him and hoped he didn’t mind. He was waiting to talk with Bob Hudson, of Zondervan publishing, whom he knew. I glanced in the direction Jim was indicating, and Bob was chatting with a friend of mine! I didn’t know she was at the conference and hadn’t seen her yet. In the past, she’s preferred to remain anonymous online, so to respect her privacy I’ll show you her face but leave off her name.You can see Jim in the background talking with Bob.Just about then, Leslie arrived.She immediately spotted a Wheaton professor she wanted to talk with named Brett Foster.We all enjoyed a brief conversation about Wheaton and writing, and then Leslie walked with my anonymous friend and me to a session with Eugene Peterson speaking on “Poet and Pastor on Patmos.”A few Peterson quotes:“John was told, ‘Write on a scroll what you see,‘ not what you know or have figured out.”And “write in a way that invites participation.”Also, he told the story about a puppy who wasn’t well trained … it couldn’t sit or stay, but one thing it did very well. As soon as the puppy heard “Fetch!”, it would race off to catch a Frisbee or a stick or a ball. The puppy would enthusiastically return with it and offer it up. Peterson said he was like that puppy. He heard “Fetch!”That’s a little, teeny-tiny bit how I feel at this moment. I went to this Festival and as I type up this part of the review, I feel like I, too, heard “Fetch!” And now I have the privilege of bringing back to you a few thoughts and interactions so that they aren’t mine alone, but yours, too.There’s more to Friday, but because it’s late, I think I’ll stop here. I’ve left a slobbery tennis ball lying at your feet. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll bring back a stick.

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