Countdown!

Greetings to all Conference Registrants!
I am a counter -- I count everything so here are a few things I was counting today:

There are only 40 days to go until the start of the conference - just a little wilderness time to go:)

There are 160 people registered but only 150 beds available at the residence!  Of the 10 overflow, there are some day delegates from Ottawa, some being billeted and some looking for a hotel close by. Cheryl has also had inquiries from several other people and she has given them the above options.

Broken down by where people live, our registration list looks like this:
Nova Scotia              44
New Brunswick        25  
Quebec                      20
Ontario                      33
Prairies                       3
British Columbia       11
Yukon                          1
International              23

There are 12 women who have indicated interest in singing in the choir -- lots of room for more if you wish to still join.

There is a total of 42 banners being brought for the banner parade at the beginning of the opening service -- should be fantastic!

And the total cost?  Our budget is approximately $50,000.

But the most important number?  ONE -- and that's YOU.  Thank you for registering for the conference and being willing to spend your time, money and energy to get to Ottawa in just 40 days!!!!!

Easter Blessings!

Easter seems like a most appropriate time to contemplate our conference theme of breathing new life in us. 

Deep Breath by Melanie Weidner 2005
http://www.listenforjoy.com/

A book I'm into at the moment is "The Naked Now" by Richard Rohr and his comments about breathing God have really stuck with me.  Many will be familiar with YHWH as the Hebrew reference to God - and that it was not to be spoken.  Rohr states that "this unspeakability has long been recognized, but we now know it goes even deeper: formally the word was not spoken at all, but breathed!  Many are convinced that its correct pronunciation is an attempt to replicate and imitate the very sound of inhalation and exhalation.  The one thing we do every moment of our lives is therefore to speak the name of God."

"When considered in this way, God is suddenly as available and as accessible as the very thing we all do constantly -- breathe."

God is omnipresent -- all around us, in us and through us so we breathe that life force, God's grace, in 17,000+ times per day!!  That breath carries the oxygen our cells need to divide and produce new cells, that breath carries compassion for our planet that makes us search for alternatives to using paper plates and plastic cutlery at the conference, that breath fills us with love that motivates us to consider how Mothers' Union can help with the suicide prevention program in the Arctic.  We will all be breathing that breath May 31 - June 3 -- let the new life in!!