Extraordinary Weekend

What a weekend! Friday I headed out to the Extraordinary Women’s Conference in Columbus. Thought I’d recap the weekend here on the ‘ol blog. Helps me process all I experienced...

Angela Thomas introduced the text for the weekend - 2 Cor. 3:17 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

• “We can be right in the presence of God, with the veil over our eyes, and MISS what He has for us.” I don’t wanna miss it!!
• “We are FREE to say how much we need Jesus.” “I’m desperate for You. I’m lost without You.”
• “There is NO POWER in smiling and pretending!” Amen! I’m not any good at that anyways ;)!
• When your veil is removed – SHOW OFF THE GLORY OF GOD! One of the most powerful parts of the weekend was when Angela had people stand and show off God’s Glory ~ in broken marriages that have been restored ~ in diseased bodies that have been healed ~ in empty wombs that have brought forth a houseful of kiddos ~ of prodigal children that have come home ~ of the lost person that has been prayed for, now saved.
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Zack, from the Columbus House of Hope, shared how this amazing ministry has helped him deal with the tragedies of his life and start a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is 16.

Natalie Grant – KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK with her bold and boisterous love for the ALMIHTY. She sang the Name, “Jesus,” and I got goose bumps. Her music points to the Father – like a powerful trumpet from a sweet lil’ flute. She NAILED it with “It is Well.” Not to be redundant, but my twitter after her concert was G.O.O.S.E.B.U.M.P.S!! To God be the Glory!

Stormie O’Martian – Saturday began as we heard about the power of prayer:

• “Find transformation through prayer and praise”
• “In God’s presence we have wholeness.”
• “WITH THE LORD YOU CANNOT GO BACKWARD!”
• “Praise and Worship is the purest form of prayer.”
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Michelle McKinney Hammond – reminded us, “I AM so that you can be.”

· “God can’t fix what you won’t admit.” I needed to hear that.

· “When God gives you what you need, you forget about what you wanted.”

MANDISA – Another musical powerhouse whose love for Jesus permeated through the Shottenstein Center to the core of my soul! LOVED HER!

• “Tune out all the voices, listen to THE Voice!
• “There ain’t no high like the Most High!”

Karen Kingsbury – You don’t have to visit my blog for long to know I LOVE to read, and my favorite fiction author is Karen Kingsbury. Not only do I love the storylines in her books, I love the storyline of her life ~ the story that points to Christ.

• “Life is not a dress rehearsal.”
• “Live in a way that is patient and kind.”
• “Real life is about the LIFE in days, not the amount of days in our life.” Oh God, give me LIFE and help me to make the MOST of every moment.

Chonda Pierce – is ALWAYS a hoot. I’ve seen Chonda several times over the years and I always BUST A GUT laughing, but then leave with something to think about. Here’s what got me thinking this weekend:

• “Jesus loves long-term. We (church people) sometimes can’t love Sunday to Sunday.” Ouch. Conviction, it’s a love/hate relationship!!
• “Rehearse in the dark what you’ve learned in the light.” When we’re having a BLAH day or season… or worse, that is when we remind ourselves with the TRUTH in God’s Word and reflect on the LIGHT He has poured into us in the past.

Top the weekend off with KidsLife @ LifePoint – where I “taught” the lesson, “I will worship God in good times and bad times” – a lesson on Job… Just wondering, was the lesson for the kiddos or moi?? And, finally, LifeGroup tonight – where we dug deeper into what was taught during the morning service… This series, “Prodigal God,” is stretching me, filling me, convicting me, encouraging me more than I could’ve imagined. Gotta spend more time alone with Jesus on what all He’s showing me through this series and the LifeGroup discussions.

To sum it up – I need MORE of HIM and less of me!!! I love Jesus more today than I did yesterday and I pray the same will be true tomorrow. Amen.