Sunday in Barrie

Remembrance Day. Sunday. It started with a rare treat for a recruiter on the road: a chance to go to church! We were at Emmanuel Baptist in Barrie. It was so refreshing to be in church. I was reminded of the power of community. Plus, it was just fun to watch how another faith community functions. People are friendly. They welcome visitors (although we did stand out since there was a bus load of us and we had all of our displays up). I don't think I've seen that many suits in church since going to Christmas Eve service with my grandparents at the German church they attend. One thing we all noticed was that the worship team was all women except for the organist and bass player. 4 vocalists, a drummer, piano...all women. Made me smile to myself. The guy that did announcements was able to make announcements fun! The pastor seemed a little over the top to me but it was a good message. They have a great little cafe with coffee and danishes that we all enjoyed.

We were there for the evening session as well. I did my seminars in their youth room. It was such a fantastic space. I got talking with one of the dads from that church and was encouraged to hear how much they recognize that the space is a blessing...that they are blessed to be a blessing to the community.

All in all, I think Barrie was a good event for everyone. Lots of people came through from all over with lots of good questions. I was pretty on the ball with my seminars even though there was a soccer game going on right next door that would occasionally come through the side door right into our room. If I wasn't wearing heels, I might have played right along to scoot them back to their side of the wall.

Finished off the day with great conversation in the hot tub with a couple of my recruiter friends. This, to me, is the highlight of what I do...yes, the hot tub, but more than that, the great conversations. Sharing life together, both the good and the bad, and hearing what God is doing in each of their lives.

Ah the life of an admissions professional...