It has been a week since I came home from Hope Spoken and I still feel like I haven’t had enough time or enough silence to really process the whole thing.
I went to support my friend Shannan, hear her speak and spend time with other friends.
When I wrote Danielle recently about the weekend I was honest that I had mediocre expectations.
I am sure that is what every person putting together an event loves to hear:-)
{Don’t worry…I let her know how I didn’t leave that way}
Guess what the Lord can do with mediocre?
He can blow you away!
He can take your little thoughts and your unexpected heart and wreck you in a moment.
He can pull you into His arms and bless you with abundance.
Let me back up a bit and tell you what the weekend was all about.
I flew in early so I could play with friends before the conference began.
Lissa, Tiffini and I were the first there and we wasted no time finding good food and then spending some time by the pool soaking up the gorgeous Texas sunshine.
That night more of our friends had arrived and we headed out for Mexican.
The next day was all about shopping and good food before Hope Spoken would begin that night.
I have to say that Dallas was a big surprise to me. I expected something completely different than what I found.
I was impressed by some of the home architecture, small urban shopping areas and the feel of the city.
Tracy knew all the good restaurants, good shopping areas and Becky and Tamara had scoped out all the good vintage shops…and that helped a ton!
We all headed back to our rooms to get ready for the conference to begin.
This first night would be dinner, worship and a concert.
Pretty good way to begin a conference if you ask me.
You know when there can be awkwardness when something first begins? Maybe it takes awhile for everyone to get comfortable? Not here. Not this night.
With a room full of women ..Tim Halperin led us into worship and a concert.
That night we had our first small group and my friends and I were so blessed to have Stephanie Holden as our small group leader.
All cozy in Becky and Tamara’s hotel room we were given the gift of Stephanie.
Getting to know Stephanie was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.
Saturday was full of hearing the hearts and stories of different women.
That is the thing about sharing your story…it really reaches out to others and can draw them unto the Lord even if your circumstances and stories have nothing in common.
Day two and the next morning was full of small groups, stories, sunshine, worship and one of the highlights for me was the personal story of Jenny Simmons.
It was soooo good. I love the stories when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord was working your story for HIS glory.
Isn’t that the page turner?
So often we are working our story for our own glory (or just to survive) and when you realize that HIS hand is upon the pages…good stuff! Life changing stuff!
So many things about the conference will later be separate posts but I wanted to fill in some of the blanks and answer some of the questions I have been receiving.
I am so grateful to Danielle, Casey and Emily for being the hands to bring this conference to life.
I am not even going to call it a conference anymore because that is not what it was. It was church. All the good things about church wrapped up as a gift.
It was the Lord…present.
It was fellowship at its sweetest.
It was laughter and connecting.
It was hands lifted high.
It was praying over others.
It was big stories and small stories that were all shared to glorify the Lord.
It was hope…spoken over everyone that attended.
It sounds like an amazing trip. I can’t wait to hear more about it!
If you have a chance to go next year I highly recommend it!
This sounds like a life changing experience to me !! What a blessing you and all attending were given ! Your witness here is so touching !!
It was such a sweet time!
Sounds amazing, thank you for sharing some of it with us today. 🙂 Have a blessed day.
Thanks for stopping over and listening:-)
It WAS church! And yes to this: “He can blow you away!” Goosebumps just thinking about it, even now!
Also, WHY did everyone get pics of me on the last day? ugh… haha
ALSO ALSO…You got a snap of my sign! I might need that!
xo
I miss you already! Take the photo or let me know if you need more.
It was beautiful . And it WAS church!! So glad it included us. Another precious memory I can store in my mental Jeanne file;)
It was one of my favorite times with you EVER! Love you!
This sounds like such an amazing time!
It really was.
not sure that I got to meet you but I feel all the same things about the weekend! It was truly glorious, every part! thanks for sharing about it!!
I don’t think we ever met but hopefully we will next year!
It was so great to finally hug you in person. The worship with my blog friends was the most amazing thing for me!
I agree! Worship with my friends was one of my favorite things too! So great to finally meet you!
sounds like an awesome time. i can’t wait to hear more of the details.
So grateful to have shared this with you! What a beautiful experience thanks for letting me tag along!!
You were such a sweet part of the weekend! Loved our time together.
Thanks so much for sharing some of your impressions, Jeanne, the experience sounds amazing!