Women of Faith Nuggets

I wish I could have taken you all with me to the Women of Faith Conference this weekend.  It is the second one my friend Linda and I have gone to.  In addition, my stepdaughter and two of her coworkers sat behind us, which made it even more special.

It is so wonderful to be in an arena with thousands of other women and  be able to laugh, pray, sing, and cry together.  

I started writing this blog and found myself doing paragraph after paragraph.  That didn't go with "nuggets" I simply wanted to share with you.  So I am going to TRY to simply list the things that stood out in my mind.  It is hard to cram an inspiring, amazing weekend into "nuggets,"  but here we go....

Kari Jobe's (Dove award winner and Grammy nominee) amazing voice and the excitement she has for God.

Christine Caine's ability to overcome  a very difficult childhood and use it to praise God and fight human trafficking.  

Patsy Clairmont's humor and speaking talent.  It was our second time seeing her - what a blessing!

Anita Renfroe (a pastor's wife) and her humor!  Where else but in a large group of women would you suggest using a Sham-Wow under the bustline for those larger than a B cup, to help keep the area dry from February-November.  In addition she has a number of parody videos - my favorite a parody of Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" video called "All the Wrinkled Ladies."   Head to YouTube if you want to see more of her humor and videos!

Dave Stone - a pastor from Kentucky.  While he spoke of many more Godly things, we had to laugh when he said it was a little odd to be 1 of only 8 men in the building.  And with all but 1 of the men's restrooms turned into women's restrooms for the weekend (thank you Wells Fargo!), he said he and Mercy Me had to go downtown to a park to look for a tree or shrub.  

Lysa Terkeurst - a founder of the Proverbs 31 Ministries and author.  I have done her Unglued study and she highlighted that as part of her message, talking about how we deal with raw emotions and how to deal with them in a more Godly, thoughtful way.

and award-winning band Mercy Me

FYI:  At events Mercy Me sells ALL their CDs for $5!!!  What a blessing to those who want to be able to take their music home with them!

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the weekend.  With the longer ones I have taken a bit of liberty with them as they are from memory.... and you guys know how awesome my memory is!

"I wanted to be normal like all you guys, then after getting out and seeing you guys, I discovered You're Not Normal Either!"  

- Patsy Clairmont - a former agrophobic

"I have 5 kids: boy-girl-boy-girl-boy.  I don't remember their names, that's as good as it gets.  My oldest daughter sees something on TV and says she HAS to have it - everyone she knows has it!  And I'm like - you know 9 people!  I can check with all of them to see if they have it." 

- Bart Millard, Lead Singer - Mercy Me

"I got here early today and went through all of the restrooms raising the toilet seats, just so you wouldn't miss your husbands quite so much."  

- Dave Stone, Pastor

"You are a limited edition."  

- Patsy Clairmont when talking about how God made us all unique

"Many people know the miracles of God, but not the God of miracles."  

- Christine Caine

"God made us all to be creative because we are in his likeness.  If you say you aren't creative you simply haven't looked hard enough.  Take an inventory and look to see what your strengths are.  As with the loaves of bread and fish, the disciples had all the ingredients they needed for a miracle - they just didn't realize it." 

- Patsy Clairmont

"Because we can not do everything, we do nothing instead of doing something."  - Christine Caine

"I didn't realize you women talked about such things (referring to Anita Renfroe and her women's issues humor).  I have gone blind in one eye and am losing my hearing from seeing and listening to this."  

- Bart Millard, Lead Singer - Mercy Me

"Learning is messy."  

- Patsy Clairmont  

"You can go to church every Sunday, sit in the front pew, volunteer for every board, teach Sunday School, recite Bible verses from memory, and know the harmony to every Chris Tomlin song there is (smile), but if you are doing it to please God - STOP.   God isn't going to love you anymore for doing those things.  Don't do things to please, do them to serve."   
- Bart Millard,  Lead Singer - Mercy Me  



and my favorite quote of the weekend:

"On your WORST day the devil couldn't claim you on his BEST day."   

- Christine Caine

Amen