Saturday conferences

I detest Saturday conferences. I mean it; there are few things worse than slogging your guts out all week and getting to Friday and the horrible realisation dawns on you that you booked into that conference 4 months ago. You know that feeling of facing the prospect of dragging yourself there, where you're told off for not spending enough time with your kids, not taking your wife out enough, that you haven't prayed enough, you're not sharing the gospel enough, you're not taking 'quality time' off with the family and don't forget next year you have to bring another 25 people to the conference because it is so important to be there.

 

However that is nothing compared to how much my wife, or pretty much any wife, hates Saturday conferences. That moment on a Friday when she's worked hard all week, the kids have been a nightmare but they are finally in bed, she's completely exhausted and at that moment you remind her... no lie in for you tomorrow, I'm up early to go to a conference on being a better husband and father, by the way that means you'll have to have the kids all day, and the jobs I've been promising to do for months need to wait another week but conferences are conferences and I need to be there. At that point all thoughts of a peaceful, joyful, romantic evening disappear as you are handed the vacuum.

 

However, there are conferences, very occasionally, I wish I could go to. The John Owen Centre have an annual elders day and I've listened through the material in the last few weeks and it's very helpful. It's all English guys speaking so it's content rich, illustration poor, application very occasionally but well worth the time listening to.

 

I'm also breaking my Sacred Saturday rule to hear Kevin and Cookie go large at the South East Gospel Partnership day at the end of this month. I can't imagine I'll last all the day as any husband or father who goes to the last session of a Saturday conference should be considered for church discipline. It would be a wonderful thing if the final afternoon speaker got up and just said get out of here, get back to your families, give your wife an hour off. If you're not married, go to the pub and enjoy the rugby, but, alas, I very much doubt that will happen.