It was precious being with thousands of other women. Obviously worshiping the Lord is always a pleasure, but doing it this weekend with just women touched me in a very deep way.
I honestly think that was one of the best aspects of the weekend...a getaway, a retreat, a refresher with thousands of beautiful women...many of whom I love dearly! Take a look at these two cuties with me:
It's difficult for me to sum up in words what I took from the weekend. So, instead...let me share with you some of the highlights that I really enjoyed that I want to share with you so hopefully you can find some enjoyment from them too!
Speakers: literally ALL the speakers were so great. REAL women facing REAL struggles. They all have their own books too, soooo about ten more books were added to my reading list. Ahhh (crazy crossed eyes)! Here's the line up of speakers (linked are their websites):
*Sheila Walsh (an amazing woman with amazing stories and wisdom!)
*Kim Kash Tate (check out her FICTION book!!)
*Luci Swindoll (I couldn't find a website for this hilarious, timeless, beautiful woman, but here's a link to her book you won't want to pass up!)
*Angie Smith (you HAVE to read this amazing woman's story...this is a personal favorite of Rachel, Maggie, and my sister's--they were already avid followers of her blog and were really excited to see her...and I have to say I fell in love with her too! She also has a book and is married to one of the lead singers in Selah!)
*Lisa Harper (couldn't find a website for this hilarious, refreshing woman either, but she has many amazing books to choose from--which are linked!)
*Nicole Johnson (I really enjoyed a lot of what Nicole talked about...she had some great analogies and I'm excited to dig into some of her books!)
*Henry Cloud (yes, there were a few worthy men invited to the WOF conference :) Henry had so many great things to share...especially something involving monkeys...more on that another time! He and Sheila have been friends for a long time, so it was very special to see their interactions and to hear them teach together).
PLEASE take some time to check out all this! Trust me...I will be following these ladies (and gentleman) for a long time coming, because God has blessed them with so many gifts and I know I have so much I can learn from them. I would love to hear them speak again someday.
Music:
Mary Mary was there to rock out for us and they definitely got the place hoppin'! For those of you who don't know me, I most certainly have a love for hip hoppin' (mostly the dancing part of it!) :)
Selah I fell in love with this group. WOW they can sing! And as I mentioned earlier, one of the men in the group is married to Angie...we were the ONLY WOF conference that Selah was available to grace their presence with, so it was very special to have that privilege. I realized later that I knew some of their music, but I will most definitely be more aware of them from now on. You have to check out their song "I Will Carry You" that corresponds with Angie's story.
There is another new way to give that I learned about that I am so excited to share with you all about, but at a later time...seeing this post is already a lot longer than I originally anticipated :)
I hope any of you who haven't been to WOF before will consider going next year (it's going to be in August). This was my first time going and it was definitely worth it! Don't be worried about the price... a lot of churches give them at discounted rates as well as going in a group in general saves you some money). And it's definitely worth it!
Agree with everything you said. I won't want to be missing them anymore. Did not know what I was missing by not going to them. How fortunate we are to live in a city they come to. To close, might I just say that I'm truly happy and blessed to have you three little monkeys in my cage. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful experience, especially being with all of you. I, too, loved Selah and Angie's story, and the Sheila/Henry combo was such good teaching! We're signing up next year!
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