When we received word that there would be three conferences held in 2010, I was excited to double the number that went the first time. Three of us that went in 2008 (Brenda, Deb and I) were able to go to Fort Worth and we were so excited to share the experience with 10 other ladies that had never been!!
On October 13th we piled into 3 vehicles and drove from Casper to Denver. The drive down was hilarious as we played "car switcheroo" and barely made the airport exit!!
After flying from Denver to Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, we met up with Melody who had flown in from Arizona. We had a limo waiting for us and we quickly loaded our luggage and continued our laughing all the way to the hotel.
Is that Erin or a movie star?
Lizz will thank me later for posting this picture. Just proof of our happy faces!
The group from left to right: Candice, Donna, Brenda, Jan, Melody, Lynda, Kim, Christie, Lizz, Jodi, Erin, Deb and Sharla. I was shocked to notice those tricksters in the back row up to their antics again!
Another group photo at the hotel was taken but this time we added a few more faces - Rachel and Ezra. We were so happy to spend some time with the Boaz family on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Kevin was our previous associate pastor and had moved to Texas a little more than a year before. None of us had yet had the pleasure of seeing their newest addition, baby Ezra.
The conference began on Thursday afternoon and lasted through Saturday afternoon. Our brains and hearts were filled to over-flowing with all of the solid, Biblical, counter cultural messages on Biblical womanhood and various other topics.
We enjoyed the warm sunshine with our box lunches. Texans could save a lot of money by reducing the amount of their air conditioning!!
Our hotel was listed as a national historic landmark, and has welcomed many famous and important guests. None would prove to be more significant than President John F. Kennedy and the First Lady, Jacqueline. Using the hotel as a backdrop, the young President addressed the thousands who had gathered to catch a glimpse of America's most popular political figure. His final speech came minutes later in the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom where 2,000 attendees joined the President and First Lady for breakfast. In only a few short hours the Hilton Fort Worth hotel in Texas would go down in history as the place where President John F. Kennedy spent his last night.
One last group photo before heading back to the airport. So many of us were struggling by the end of the trip with "bad Texas hair"!!
This trip was so much more than a conference. It was not designed to simply teach and entertain, though it did both of these things. It was and is so much more than that. It's about a movement of Christian women who desire to honor God by living counter-cultural lives that reflect the beauty of Christ and His gospel to our world. It starts in individual hearts, then to the homes, then to the local church and into the community, ultimately impacting the world.
One of the statements from the Manifesto that sums up the mission of True Woman and is an aspiration for our ladies and our church is:
Mature Christian women have a responsibility to leave a legacy of faith, by discipling younger women in the Word and ways of God and modeling for the next generation lives of fruitful femininity.
True Woman has graciously posted almost all of the main and breakout sessions on its web page. There are many wonderful messages that are well worth listening to or downloading.
No comments:
Post a Comment