K is for Kinfolk (Family)

My most precious resource, given to me by God. This was made very clear to me over the Congress weekend.

Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?
    the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows
    are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
    with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;
    you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.

Psalm 127:3-5, The Message

J is for Jesus

 Who else?

King of kings, Majesty
God of Heaven living in me
Gentle Saviour, closest friend
Strong Deliverer, beginning and end
All within me falls at Your throne
Your Majesty, I can but bow
I lay my all before You now
In royal robes I don't deserve
I live to serve Your Majesty.

Lyrics: Jarrod Cooper

I is for Integrity

As part of the Commissioning section of the event, on Sunday morning, Emily Haigh was ordained and commissioned as a Salvation Army officer. She made a sacred commitment to love God and love others.

What a challenge!

Watch the livestream from the service on TSA's YouTube channel: the link is here.  

H is for Hotels

Hotels that are booked for these sort of business events (like the Congress) can vary from the intimate to the large hotel chain. All have their advantages - however if you have all of these (as my hotel did this time around) that is a definite, definite plus:

• Comfortable room with air conditioning
• A bath with piping hot water
• A towelling robe to use after the bath!
• A large screen TV with a great selection of channels (some were even in French and German!)
• A large selection for breakfast the next morning - spoilt for choice!

It's a wonder that I left the room the next day!

G is for Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a modern-day form of bullying, where someone makes their victim doubt their own reality by making them believe their own memories are faulty. 

According to Wikipedia, the expression derives from the title of the 1944 film Gaslight, where a husband slowly manipulates his wife into believing that she is descending into insanity.

Bullying is wrong, whatever way you look at it. Ask questions! Hold on to the truth. 

F is for Friendship

Friendship is a crucial element in protecting our mental health. Our friends can keep us grounded, help us get things in perspective, and help us manage the problems that life throws at us. My close friends are so precious to me. 

However, Facebook friends aren't the same. Here's what Facebook says about 'friending'...

Friending on Facebook helps you stay connected with people you care about. Adding a friend means you may see each other's activity in Feed, Stories and Photos.

When you want to add a friend on Facebook, bear in mind that:

• You should send friend requests to people you know and trust. Add a friend by searching for them or directly from People you may know.
• You can control who can friend and follow you by editing your privacy settings.
• If you don't want someone to see you on Facebook, learn how to unfriend or block them.
• You can have up to 5,000 friends at a time.

With very few exceptions, I have met everyone who I am friends with on Facebook. 

E is for Exhaustion

In addition to the heat exhaustion you may encounter if you don't drink enough, introverts like myself need to guard against the physical exhaustion you encounter from just being in a crowded environment - like the Congress. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I love being in the venue - however I prefer to be there doing a job. I learnt this very early on through volunteering at a number of Army events (Roots, SAFE/enabled, etc) and it fits me well. A little bit of social interaction is fine. Make it too noisy or too intense and I start getting a bit twitchy!

By the time there is a break, or I am at the end of the day, I'm quickly away to recover - some time alone, a good meal and relaxing with a good book or the latest box set. 

D is for Drink

 Another factor to bear in mind over the recent weekend was the need to carry water. 

Water is such a precious resource, however in a heatwave - your water bottle is more than that - it is your best friend!

Too little water could lead you to become dehydrated, and a loss of fluids and salt could produce a upset in balance in the human body. This, combined with the lowered blood pressure due to the heat, can lead to heat exhaustion (and symptoms such as dizziness and confusion).

Remember to drink!

C is for Congress

 

What is a Congress?

According to the ICCA (the International Congress and Convention Association) a congress is a "regular coming together on a representational basis of several hundreds - or even thousands - of individuals belonging to a single professional, cultural, religious or other group."

The Salvation Army’s first International Congress was held in 1886 to celebrate TSA’s 21st anniversary. The event was able to attract two thousand officers from sixteen different nationalities.

See link here

B is for Blanked

The scene was - of course - the recent Salvation Army event in Birmingham. 

Early in the proceedings I met up with an officer couple, and you could tell we were pleased to see each other in person. The feeling was plainly mutual. They knew that I was on the conference site from my post on Social Media, and they had taken pains to seek me out to say hello. With over 1,000 people on site, they had made the effort to find me. I was so pleased.

One of the couple then said something to me that stuck with me all weekend. "I wonder how many of my Facebook friends will come over to see me, welcome me like you did..."

How many walked on by, perhaps too busy to stop and say hello? I noticed a couple...

<sigh>