Women of Faith Conference

I had the opportunity to spend this last weekend with a girlfriend at the Women of Faith Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.  If I had to use one word to sum up the conference it would be:

INCREDIBLE

The End.

Oh, you want to hear more?  Okay! 

To be honest, I didn't have many "expectations" for this conference.  We've all been around Christian circles enough to know that there can be a lot of cheese present, however, there was no cheese at this conference.  I feel incredibly blessed to have been present at the conference.  Everything from the worship, to the speakers, to the singers, to the comedians was incredible.  The whole conference, I was either laughing hysterically or crying.  There wasn't much middle ground.  The conference was run in such a way that they made you feel like you were the only person they were talking to, pretty incredible since we were in a stadium of 10,000 women!

 

The speakers were definitely our favorite part, especially Sheila Walsh.  You couldn't help but love her.  Here is a glimpse of some of their life stories:

• Admitted to a psych ward
• Loss of a child
• Divorce
• Molestation
• Abusive home life

Their list reminds me of some of the women in Jesus' genealogical line:

• A prostitute
• A victim of rape 
• An adulteress

While this list in no way defines these women it does give a glimpse of the depths these women have gone to and it reveals the redeeming nature of the heart the Father has for all of His people.  We, as humans, see the circumstances but Christ sees the treasures He created them to be.  These incredible speakers declared through their talks that when they were in their weakest moments, He was strong.  These women have been to some of the darkest depths that we can imagine, but in those places they have encountered the incredible healing and redeeming love of Jesus Christ. They emerged from those places declaring that  that we are the beloved daughters of the King and no matter where life brings you there is absolutely nothing on earth that can separate us from the love that is in Jesus Christ.

I did not leave the conference with a list of "things to do" to improve my life.  My husband even asked when I came home, "so what is going to change?"  See he knows and remembers his performance-based wife who has come back from events before needing to change something.  I could honestly say, "Nothing."  I was encouraged and strengthened in my faith and I had the opportunity to celebrate with my fellow sisters in Christ, to sort through some of those questions I've been holding in my heart, to cry, to rejoice, to be healed and ultimately to be loved.

The conference was INCREDIBLE!  If you have the opportunity to attend a Women of Faith conference I would say GO!  You will be blessed.  There are only 3 conferences left this year, but next year's conferences will contain many of the same speakers with the theme CELEBRATE!  I can't wait!

In Christ,

 

PS I received complementary tickets to the Women of Faith Conference from God via Tommy Nelson Publishing Company in exchange for a post about the conference.  I was not paid, and all opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.