Women of Faith Conference

This past weekend I had the chance to volunteer at the Women of Faith conference in Indianapolis with World Vision.  This conference came at a very needed time in my life.  Life over the past 4-6 months (even past 11 months) has really just been in the "survival" mode.  Nate's been working lots of extra hours trying to meet deadlines, we are at the end of a busy summer, and I am so ready for life to become grounded and more structured again.  I also am looking forward to jumping back into routine structured bible study with my new BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group.

The WOF (Women of Faith) conference helped me to actually take 1 1/2 days to focus on me (for once), and gave me a chance to quietly listen to what God wanted to tell me!  You other mamas can totally relate when I say, "quietly," RIGHT?   I really enjoyed all of the WOF team, but appreciated 2 of the speakers the most!   My favorite was Kelly Minter.  She is new to the WOF team and is an incredible asset!  She spoke with such humility, realness, and honesty.  I felt I had known her for years and she was telling me some of her hardest struggles!  Her vunerability with the audience allowed me (and many others) to really relate to what she was saying.  She has a new bible study book out on Nehemiah and I can't wait to pick it up.  She talked about the fact God is a God of second chances and He is in the business of rebuilding us as a Christian people.  We as women need God's healing hand to "rebuild the broken places of our lives and we can only do that through the power and presence of God."  She talked about the rubble at the bottom that causes so much hangup in our lives.  We MUST deal with the rubble before we can rebuild our "walls."

I was also deeply touched by Brenda Warner 's testimony on Saturday.  She shared about the undesired "calls" she has received throughout her life, but how God's faithfulness continued to bring her through.  I seriously cried during her whole 30 min presentation.  I didn't have enough Kleenex's to keep my eyes dry!  I really want to get her book, One Call Away, to learn about God's faithfulness in the midst of much PAIN!  She was an incredible speaker and very vulnerable with the audience.  I really appreciate that about a speaker!

Mark Lowry, singer/songwriter of "Mary Did You Know?," also provided much needed laughter on Friday night!  I laughed so hard through his whole act.  He is a very talented man with an incredible heart for the Lord.  I would love to see him again!!!

Finally, my last FAVORITE part of the WOF conference was watching Mandisa perform!  Wow, that girl has got some major CHOPS!  This was one of the best Christian concerts I have ever been to!  She rocked the house and actually had FUN singing and performing!  You could tell she believed every word she was singing and found JOY in her music.  I can't WAIT to get her CD!!   She did an awesome job telling about each song and how it "came to be."  I really appreciate when artists tell you the history of the song because I feel it is more relational and meaningful!  If you are looking for something for your Christmas Wish List, her CD needs to be one of your items!!  Check out this live video of her singing Good Morning!   She is going to be on GMA this morning with Toby Mac singing this song in 45 minutes!!

While I was working at WOF, I had the chance to help World Vision get more child sponsorship's.  It was a great experience!  For $35 a month, you can support a child in almost any country in the world.  The best part about World Vision is 86% of the $35 monthly sponsorship goes DIRECTLY to that child!  We were told it is the most of any child sponsorship program!  The other 14% is for admin, stuff like the WOF conference etc.  Isn't that awesome???  Please pray and ask God if you should pursue sponsoring a child?  I have sponsored one since 2003 and LOVE receiving letters from her and would love to meet her someday!

All in all the WOF was a great experience, however, I wished that each of the main speakers sessions would have been as "deep" as Kelly Minters.  She taught from Scripture and intertwined her personal testimony throughout it.  I know the other women that spoke have TONS of wisdom and knowledge, as they are poured over God's word for many years.  I just wished they would have shared more in depth stuff with us!

Did you attend WOF?  If so, what were your thoughts?