Call me weird – I’m NOT looking forward to the ACFW conference just for the informative workshops or even the chance to pitch to editors and agents. Okay, Okay, yes, I’m excited and anxious about all of that plus everything else the conference offers.
However, since my first conference in Nashville 2005, there’s been something special that has brought me back to ACFW again and again, to the point that I’m now happily serving as your Membership Director. What keeps me coming back is fellowship.
We’re all very diverse personalities. Some are shy or introverted, and other are outgoing and can make friends with anyone strolling through the hotel lobby. But we have two common denominators among all of us: our love of Jesus Christ, and our love of writing.
Personally, I’m struggling with my own writing right now, but that’s why I KNOW I need to attend the ACFW conference. I will be blessed by so many other struggling writers. Heck, even Brandilyn Collins, Colleen Coble, and Deb Raney have been frustrated with writing! It happens to us all.
So, during those wonderful days of the ACFW Conference in Minneapolis, I can commiserate with my fellow struggling writers, as well as be inspired by my favorite published authors, knowing they’ve traveled the same path I’m currently on.
God is amazing, especially when He brings us all together – to learn, to grow, to praise (Rachel Hauck and the worship team are AWESOME!). But besides the learning and sharing, God will bring us together to meet those special friends who are on this journey of the writing life.
Rebecca Yauger