I Went Deeper Still...

At the last minute I was able to get a ticket to Deeper Still in Atlanta and got to go with 4 great girls plus some other great women from our church. Despite the car battery dying across from the church, we persevered and had a fun drive down visiting.

We checked into our room, got all freshened up (which turned out to be a waste of time as we walked a mile up hill in the heat in downtown Atlanta!) we headed out with the 19,000 other Bible toting women.
At the first session we heard some great worship music and got to hear Priscilla Shirer speak. She is one of my all-time favorite women to hear teach. She taught about the Isrealites camping in the desert to meet God. Her point was that God takes us through hard times to bring us closer to Him. I'll be honest and say I didn't really want to hear this word. I had a really exhausting week and honestly wanted to be made to feel good not to know that I need to go through hard times.

Helped by great counsel of Kyla I realized that maybe my over tired, guilt-ridden stressed out state I've found myslef in lately is my wilderness, and I need to take the opportunity and meet with God. That is what I have been doing since I got back and feel so much better and more blessed.

After a great Word we trekked back to the hotel for some goofy girl fun. After Big Nanny, Heather, and I kept taking shots and gathering stories for our blog, we finally coerced Kyla into promising to start her own.

This is a pic of the blog pact that inspired this!
Sweet Chris made us really cute shirts to commemorate our great weekend, which inspired more goofiness.
Since I added on late, I got to be the floor sleeper. Unfortunately, the blow up bed deflated so I slept on 5 feather pillows. Everyone asked if I was exhausted, but I slept better than at home not being awakened by various little people needing me!
Big Nanny was determined we would have better seats Saturday,so she and Heather literally risked their lives to get there early and get us 6 rows behind Beth Moore. It was totally awesome! Kay Arthur brought an amazing sermon about the state of our country. Wow, I pray I know my Bible half as much as Kay when I am 72! Then Beth Moore taught on just one verse in the first chapter of Jon applying it in ways I had never thought of before. Yet, my favorite time was when the 3 of them talked and answered questions. They were so funny and such great examples of godly women.

Sorry for the bad picture, but I am a complete rule follower and therefore wouldn't use my flash!
The "Fab Five" decided we'd had enough fast food and ate a great meal at Olive Garden before leaving Atlanta.

Everytime they said at the conference "God brought you here for a reason" I felt it was totally true for me since the entire trip happened so unexpectantly. God taught me many things on this trip through both some great speakers and some godly friends. Here I sit renewed and happy to be home yet hungry to go... you guessed it, deeper still!