women of faith

my dear husband surprised me with tickets this weekend to the women of faith conference! i had plans to go with a good friend of mine and to meet several other good friends there. as you can imagine, the amount of preparation required just for me to leave for 24 hours is phenomenal. between the lists and the meal preps and the laundry and the sitter arrangements, it literally took three days get ready to go away for one! however, when i looked at the line up, i was so excited to see that one of the speakers was none other than angie smith! if you've never checked out her blog, i encourage you to do so. i'm a big fan of hers and i was soooo excited to hear her speak. now the tickets were obtained by another woman from our church who had two extras. so we had no idea where the seats were until we got there. you can imagine our surprise when we were led to the first row. i am not kidding you. we sat directly behind the speakers! i could've told you if angie or either of the ladies from mary mary had split ends! (they didn't!) it was unreal. we literally spent the first thirty minutes completely in awe. all of the speakers were fantastic and inspiring. after the year i've had, it was so refreshing to hear all that was shared today. sometimes you just need to hear someone else's story to remember that you will make it.
angie did not disappoint. let me explain why i love her so much. it's not because she's a famous blogger. it's not because she is married to a celebrity. it is because in the midst of one of my darkest seasons, i came across her story and it encouraged me that i would make it. that even in the darkest place He is there and still in control. i thought if she could survive the tragedy that she had and still love Jesus with all of her heart, then so could i . if God could bring beauty from the ashes of losing a precious child, then He could bring beauty from mine too. sometimes we just need reminded that this will not kill us. that it will make us stronger. angie was as poised and real and beautiful in person as she is online. i couldn't resist putting a note on her seat during the break :) and now.... pictures!

the very talented and beautiful natalie grant

sheila walsh giving angie a hug after her talk. there was not a dry eye in the house!

angie

lisa harper, angie and natalie conversing...
probably about the loud girl sitting right behind them :)