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TAMPA BAY • FEBRUARY 23-24 2026

This FINAL encore experience will be unlike any other. Because like everything we do, it's been "reimagined" from beginning to end. It's not a virtual or hybrid event. It's not a conference. It's not a seminar, a workshop, a meeting, or a symposium. And it's not your typical run-of-the-mill everyday event crammed with stages, keynote speeches, team-building exercises, PowerPoint presentations, and all the other conventional humdrum. Because it's up close & personal by design. Where conversation trumps presentation. And where authentic connection runs deep.

Compassion is no Match for Convenience

The phone rings and I hesitate as caller ID flashes into view. I don’t have to press ‘answer’. I already know the question.

My eyes wander back to the screen where the half-written email waits patiently for the return of my attention.  Reaching for the phone now. “This isn’t a convenient time,” I thought. “Say, no. You have to say no.”

There’s a laundry hamper brimming with activewear – after all, we are busy people. And our fridge is stocked well for a feast, as long as it’s made completely of condiments. I desperately need to go shopping. The dentist appointment tomorrow and the hair appointment the day after that.

The phone has now rung twice.

Oh shoot! I promised to babysit all day Thursday. And when will I find time to write get-well cards? My thoughts are like springs, bouncing from cell to cell, gathering reason.

The phone has now rung three times.

The freelance editing job I promised to complete lays on my desk, thesaurus and grammar guide wide open, purple ink pen at the ready. This job I prayed for, and now time escapes as though the Earth has cracked and minutes are slipping through.

The request just inside the ringing phone is not convenient. But I answer.

The voice on the other side is weak and tearful. “I’m having a hard day,” she says. “Would you be able to take me to lunch soon?” I think, but then do not say, what I’m thinking. I already know the right answer.

“Could I take you to lunch tomorrow? I can pick you up right after my dentist appointment.” 

Doing the next right thing colors outside the lines of convenience.

Retirement has turned the virtues of a non-scheduled life into a teeter-totter of chaotic commitments. The things that are convenient rarely align with those of highest value.

Instead of clambering to meet a deadline, I took my friend to lunch, and afterward we took a long, quiet drive over miles of country roads, revisiting the area where she once lived, married, and raised her children for over 90 years.

Love isn’t a matter of convenience, it’s a matter of compassion.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love. – Psalm 145:8

Jane Anderson
Jane Andersonhttp://refininggrace.com/
JANE’s professional experience is scattered across industries from financial services and insurance to engineering and manufacturing. Jane sees her background in writing and editing website content as the foundation to her current love of social media. Being an avid reader, meticulous note taker and lifelong learner has fostered her natural pursuit of sharing her world through writing. Reading books and summarizing content started as a hobby and has since grown to be a major part of her vocational experience. Jane says, “Authors pour their heart and soul into writing their book. When I write a review, it’s with intent to celebrate the book and promote the author.” Jane claims to be 'the best follower you'll ever want to meet' and has been repeatedly called servant leader, eternal cheerleader, social media evangelist, and inspirational go-to person. Jane is a contributing author to the inspiring book Chaos to Clarity: Sacred Stories of Transformational Change.

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CONVERSATIONS

  1. Love in its broadest sense is love for one’s neighbor, it is dedication of the individual in society. That same society – modern – in which the feeling of love between human beings has increasingly taken on the contours of the principles that regulate the economy and which therefore responds more to the selfish needs of the market than to a true human impulse.
    I believe that if empathy is the true path to follow to generate love, feeling inside and understanding others without any conditions, compassion is the indispensable means to follow it.
    The two words complement each other, because there can be no compassion without empathy: being compassionate is giving meaning and direction to being empathetic, it is the will to accomplish that exists between empathy and love.

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