Women of Joy

Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with my Mom in Sevierville and worshiping God! Along with 23 other ladies from my area, we attended the Women of Joy Conference with guest speakers Kirk Cameron, Priscilla Shirer, Carol Kent, and Lisa Harper. Travis Cottrell was the worship leader and we got to see Casting Crowns in concert. It was AWESOME!

Kirk Cameron inspired us to overcome our fear of sharing faith. I would rather lose a friendship than to lose a friend to Hell! It is my new goal to inspire others to believe we all are sinners, Jesus died for our sins, He rose again on the 3rd day, and offers the free gift of salvation and a promise to live forever in Heaven, if we just choose to live for Him and have a relationship with Him.

Priscilla Shirer shared from Exodus 14:13 – 15 about things we should apply to our lives when facing difficult circumstances:
Be fearless – Don’t entertain fear, exchange it for an opportunity
Be still – If we didn’t think we were God, we wouldn’t nee to control everything and wouldn’t be so stressed out.
Be watchful- See all the little miracles He is performing day by day; whatever season in your life, see what He’s got going on for you; the abundant life is for the season you are in right now.
Be quiet – no complaining; train yourself to not allow complaints to pass your lips!

Carol Kent shared about her life based on her books – When I Lay My Isaac Down and The New Kind of Normal. Her words of encouragement based on choices:
Choose Life – when God seems the most absent, He is indeed the most present.
Choose Relinquishment
Choose Gratitude
Choose vulnerability – be a hope giver to others!
Choose Forgiveness
Choose Purposeful Action

Lisa Harper talked about God not putting anything between us and Him. We don’t have to be perfect to come to him. When we come to Him and begin a relationship with Him, He will mend our broken hearts and lives. She gave examples of women in the genealogy of Jesus:
Tamar was a liar and a con artist; Rahab was a prostitute; Ruth had a crazy family and a family tree that didn’t fork well: Solomon’s mom (Bathsheba) was an adulterous woman. All these women were mentioned on Jesus’ earthly family tree in Matthew 1:1-6.

What a blessing it was to be able to attend.

We already have plans to attend next year – Karen Kingsbury and Kay Arthur will be there and Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman will be in concert! In making our plans, we ran into several situations where we knew God was in control. I love it when "God things" happen!