This weekend was TEC and it was amazing!!!
I worked on the Conference team which means that the people who are coming for the first time (the Participants) are split into table groups and they spend the weekend in a small group format with us. I was pretty nervous having never worked this team before! We were told that we all bring different strengths into the team so I wasn't completely freaked but it was close! :)
Friday night arrived and I headed out to Entheos. We did some set-up, ate dinner and hung out as a team and had a reconciliation service. I went up for prayer to calm my nerves and because I had been dealing with some stupidity at work all week that I felt was pulling me down (I don't like that feeling).
Here's what has been going on...
There is this woman that I work with... She is in her mid-forties and is doing the same job I am and she asked me the first time we worked together how long I have worked there and I said about three weeks. I went on to explain that I am a University student and this is a summer job for me. She said she has a $60,000 degree and look where she is working... So, all week, all I have heard is that she has a degree and is working with me. Apparently she also used to clean houses... I'm not saying either of these is a bad job but if she has a degree, why isn't she using it would be my question... whatever. Anyway, she is on the bigger side and all week has complained about her knees, back, ankles, feet, etc. hurting from being on her feet all day. Now, I will point out that I know based on what she has said that I outweigh her but I am also quite a bit taller than her (at least 6") and one of the guys we work with pointed out that the shoes she is wearing are so worn out that it's no wonder that she's in pain. We are on our feet for 9 hours a day... Your feet are bound to hurt after that (I need to buy a foot spa thingy as an aside... maybe I'll ask for one for my birthday... hmmm...) but our boss who outweighs me by what I outweigh this woman by is shorter than her... It's a complicated situation... Anyway, after the first two days of complaining, she started making comments about MY size. Now, I don't know this woman from a hole in the ground and honestly, I was offended. My build is larger based on genetics (having a 6'6" grandfather will do that to you!) and it has taken me a long time to become comfortable with who I am! I wear black a lot as it's supposed to be slimming and also because if I wear black, no one can make any comments about whatever I am wearing. So, I finally buy clothes in (I know, this is going to shock some people) colours and then this woman starts in on me about my size. Because it's sooooooooo helpful. *rolling eyes* So, any self-esteem I had, is *poof* gone. Well, maybe not gone but is lessened.
So, I went for prayer, I explained how I have been feeling to the prayer team and part of the situation and we prayed. I had people come and lay hands on me and the support from my friends was amazing... When I got up, I had cried (shocking, I know) and I got hugs from a bunch of people (which I totally needed) and then I went and spent some time alone thinking and doing my own thing. My only concern with going back to work on Tuesday is that I will have to deal with it again and I'm at the point that if she keeps making me feel this uncomfortable, I may have to go talk to my boss who I know understands about people making her feel uncomfortable in her own skin...
Back to hapier things... Saturday morning dawned early and we got up for morning prayer and had breakfast and began to prepare for the participants to arrive. I knew who was going to be at my table and I had sponsored one of the girls to come to the weekend (this means I had told her about TEC, told her what she could and couldn't bring with her to the weekend, had been praying for her before the weekend and had talked to her parents about the weekend in general), another I had met when we did a PR church visit and the boy at our table is the younger brother of a friend. I was still nervous tho. I prayed that God would calm my heart.
All of the participants arrived early and we started the day about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Now, we don't wear watches while we are at TEC so from then on, we were pretty much completely in the dark time-wise.
The rest of the weekend overall was amazing... The participants at my table are awesome and we bonded really well as a table group. My co-table leader is my bestfriends fiance and it was awesome getting to know him better. :) As the weekend progressed, our discussions got deeper and deeper and I know that I learned more and more about the participants, my co and myself.
The participants at the other tables were also really amazing. At meal and break times we got the chance to hang out and talk with them as well and the bonding we did as a conference team with all of the participants was amazing. The maximum capacity of a TEC weekend is 36 and while it would be cool to have a full TEC, the participants wouldn't be able to have the amount of individual attention they got this weekend (there were only 16).
So, from there, they go back out into the world. I found it kind of daunting after my TEC weekend. The love, caring and compassion that surrounds them in the TEC community is amazing and many times, people at work or school don't understand. Especially if they aren't Christian. One of my friends put it best... He said, "I have to go to work tomorrow and I'm not sure what my boss would do if I walked up and hugged him. In fact, I'm not sure if I would be going to work Wednesday if I did that!" I just hope and pray that their families are supportive and caring and that whatever they go back into today, they are able to hold into the way they were feeling as they left yesterday and can return to THING this weekend or Reunion next weekend and still have the joy they were filled with...
