Today I gave a presentation at a transportation demand management symposium on the basics of how to create a Facebook page for their program. Overall I didn’t think it went too badly. It did end up being a lot shorter than I anticipated (I left a lot of time for questions and my listeners didn’t have many), but I said what I came to say. As someone who does a good bit of public speaking in a number of settings I can tell you that that’s really the best result possible, when you leave satisfied with your effort.

But I’m also someone who craves the genuine approval of others. Disapproval, dismissal, and token praise have been like death to me in the past. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve been difficult to get to know all through my life. I don’t want to let you know the real me because that might mean you’d reject me.

As with most conferences there were evaluation forms to be filled out at the end of our time together. I was sitting at the registration desk waiting for the final session to begin when my eye spotted the two stacks of completed evaluations. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know what people thought of my presentation.

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I arrived in Black Mountain, North Carolina late Friday night. I had spent most of my day in the car; the drive from Tallahassee is roughly eight and a half hours. Driving long distances always takes a lot out of me. My eyes were heavy as I unloaded and lugged my things up to the motel room on the second floor.

I had to make two trips to get everything upstairs. First I brought up the suit I planned to wear to the wedding which I had hanging up in the back seat. Once it was in the room I went back down for my suitcase and messenger bag. As I walked back up I noticed that someone had hung some of their laundry over the outdoor railing. Strange. I proceeded to my room where I crashed to sleep.

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This was supposed to be a slow, relaxing week. I was going to recoup from my trip to Austin and get to some writing I’d been excited about for weeks. Instead I’ve had my time and attention focused squarely on my home, which was robbed on Monday while my roommates and I were at work.

Strangely, my laptop was not stolen even though it was sitting in plain sight on my desk. At first I thought the burglar simply hadn’t managed to get to my room before something spooked him, but yesterday I started to notice some items that seem to be missing. It’s frustrating, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. My roommate Zack had the most taken, including his laptop. Tyler lost a watch and some fancy cufflinks.

It’s an unnerving experience. I’m not even that angry about losing my things (though had my laptop been stolen that wouldn’t be true). I’m more upset about my privacy being invaded and my discretionary time being taken. And while so far I’ve kept my cool I know this is the sort of thing that can bring out the worst in me.

I’ve been reading Isaiah this month. This morning I was in chapter 45. Verse 7 says:

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

You read that right. God creates calamity. He said so Himself. (Now, I’d hardly call this ordeal a calamity, but you get the idea.) It’s comforting to know that even this is under His sovereign control.

You can take a look at a few more photos here.