Sipping From a Gushing Fire Hydrant

Wow! What a great conference!

I went to the Early Bird session taught by Donald Maass. It was extremely helpful, thought provoking, and entertaining. By our afternoon break, I felt like I had been through a whole conference. And that was just the Early Bird. The conference hadn’t even started yet. I learned so much and must confess that I have already forgotten so much. There’s only so much space between the ears. ☺

Conferences are like trying to get a drink out of a flowing fire hydrant. You are so thirsty for knowledge and growth but you can only take in so much. You can’t learn it all in one conference.

The problem is that like many people, we go to our first conference (and additional conferences) and try to learn it all. We try to drink all the water gushing from the hydrant, then become overwhelmed and drown.

We need to step back and take little sips from the fount of knowledge and let it sink in, refresh, and help us grow a little at a time. Don’t worry about all the knowledge you’re missing (or in my case forgetting already), and focus on what you did learn and let that become a part of you as a writer.

It’s the same with God and His Word, only on a much grander scale. The Fire Hydrant of knowledge is so vast, we cannot comprehend it all, and sadly don’t try. Then we shrivel up and die of thirst. But if we try to learn everything God has to teach us all at once we become overwhelmed and don’t understand Him at all.

But if we take sips of knowledge from God’s slow patient teaching and from conferences, we won’t drown or dry up.

Sip. Sip.