Sometimes I can't believe this is my life...

I just got back from Europe last night. A team of high schoolers from my church in MD went to the same conference as last year and I tagged along as a leader. We started in Vienna, Austria, went to Sopron, Hungary for the majority of the trip and then spent some time in Paris, France decompressing.

The conference was Connect 2008, hosted by Christian Associates International. It's a chance for most of their staff (275 this year) to connect, hence the name. The organization is comprised of church planters from all over Europe and this is a great chance for them to come to one location and be around people that understand them. From what they say, it's an incredible time of encouragement and bonding for them. We took care of the kids, which happens to also be an encouraging thing for parents who never have childcare.

Our team didn't just babysit, though. We are talking full-force, multi-media, over-stimulation childcare. We'll call it Xtreme Childcare, just for fun. Our high schoolers designed an Olympics-themed week with videos for every day staring 4 of our students, lessons, games and crafts. We also planned 3 themed night sessions: Pirate/Princess Party, Campfire Night and Wacky-Tacky Superhero Night. I was so proud of our team for creating and implementing such an amazing program for these kids.

I spent most of my conference time in the 0-2 year old room. When I wasn't scheduled there, I could usually be found with my entourage of 9-11 year old girls. 1.5 to 3 years old is one of my favorite kiddie ages. I just love toddlers- there is so much to explore and learn, especially when it comes to words. I just love when they repeat things you say.

Insert favorite memory #1: It's always appropriate to say thank you, especially during snack time, in the baby room. But sometimes the kiddos need a little prompting. One of my favorite little ones would always come to me for snack, and so I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him repeat "thank you" back to me in 4 different languages. Oh, these kids of missionaries.

It was also great fun to be with my fellow baby room workers. We laughed... a lot. And I mean, a whole lot. It's important to do when you have between eight and eleven children under the age of 2 in a small hotel room. It was great, though. The kids were super sweet, too. All of them, even when they cried or screamed. I really enjoyed watching the progression of moods throughout the week, too. And measuring the length of time a little one cried on the first day versus the last day. I should have graphed it; it would have been a downward slope... because those of us in the baby are just that much fun.

Insert favorite memory #2: Watching a parent leave their screaming child in the room with us and knowing that, in about 30 seconds, we will have the child giggling. Let me tell you our little secret: bubbles. Yes, bubbles. Endless entertainment for all.

Baby-girl by morning and night, 9-11 year old cool kid by afternoon- this could be my title. Last year I managed to get to know the 9-11 year old girls quite well, although I'm not sure how because I was in the baby room last year, too. Either way, being reunited with them this year was simply a blast! I ate almost every meal with them, which would make anyone feel popular.

Insert favorite memory #3: Last year, one of my favorite girls licked (literally) her dessert plate clean and took some cole slaw to one of the other leaders of our team, which he ate without any clue as to the plate's origin. This year, that same girl served dessert on a licked plate to one of the guys on our team. Really, I'll never want to eat meals with adults again.

9-11 years old really isn't my favorite age at all. In fact, I'm a little intimidated by large groups of them. It's that tween thing, or something. But these girls, they just stole my heart right away last year and I found out they still had it this year. They are special kids to me and I think it's really neat for them to hang out with me. Because, you know, I'm that cool. Not.

Insert favorite memory #4: I was able to host an almost-sleepover for the girls, too. D and I (mostly D since my materials got left in the states by accident) put together these cute little purses for them full of girly things, like chocolate and lip gloss, and we watched Penelope. It's fun for the girls to have something that is specially catered for them. They also asked me if I would do a Bible study with them for the week. We actually only met 3 or 4 times (once in the pool), but it was still really cute of them.

I didn't talk to as many missionary families as I would have liked to, but that's ok. I did a lot of connecting last year, so I was perfectly content with spending 98.9% of my time with kids. I did have dinner with a family living in Sweden one night- they were such a blessing to me for that hour or so. And I met one afternoon with a woman living in The Hague- it was great to hear about her journey. I also met Alan and Deb Hirsch. They spent some time investing in our team, something for which we are greatly indebted to them.

Now I have a lot of thinking to do about my life, which seems to be the trend for the past few month and will probably continue for the rest of my life. I left the trip more and less confused all at once. I know that probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was like God said no to something that I thought would be good. Having a no for that decision is fine, but it means I have to choose another option. Oh life.

I should wait until I am less jet-lagged and more aware to think about such things... Au revoir.