Thursday, March 27, 2014

Not Another 'Do-Gooder' Event

Mother/Daughter Event in Charlotte, May 17th.   
(See below)
John 15:5
"I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can nothing."










God drew 350+ women/girls to our event a few weeks ago.  They heard:
  • the gospel truth; 
  • practical  messages about establishing a real love relationship with God;  
  • practical messages about how to do married life - 
  • practical messages about parenting, grand parenting and ways to deal with teen issues.  
NOW... 350+ households are being impacted with Jesus. 

If that were not enough...
  • 21 women/girls committed their lives to Christ for the first time!!!   Eternal destinies have been changed!
  • Multitudes fell on their knees before the Lord in repentance and surrender.  They made commitments to obey what they had sensed Him telling them over the weekend.
THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!   Lives impacted and changed for the Kingdom of God.  

Do you want to know the secret behind this success???    
  • Was it the cool testimonies of the keynote speakers:  Linda and Jen Barrick?  (Awesome, but no.)



  • Was it the worship led by Ryan and the band?  (They were AWESOME TOO!  But no.)


    • Was it the breakout leaders and their wisdom concerning each of their topics?  


    NOPE!


    The secret is found in something you did not see.  It was something that took place behind closed doors when NO ONE but God Almighty Himself was watching.  

    PRAYER  Jesus tells us apart from Him we will bear no fruit - but if we remain in Him - we will bear much fruit. Prayer is one of the ways we remain in Him.

    For months our team spent time on our faces before the Lord.   Then 4 months prior to the conference, a group of 6 within our team of 10 began meeting weekly for prayer. Many days it was a conference call at 6am or at 9pm.   

    Without a shadow of doubt, the reason I can share so many were impacted - is because of prayer.   

    Prayer is the secret behind ANY event you may be hosting.   Prayer is the true work.  Had prayer not covered this event - the speakers, the worship, and the event in general would have fallen flat.  It would have felt like another do-gooder event.  If that's the case - we might as well be another do-gooder organization.  (the intent is not to demean other organizations here.)

    I'm not in this for another do-gooder event.  I want the power of God to fall.  But I must resolve to pray.   SO MUST YOU.

    • It could be a simple dinner party (though not easy to me),  
    • A Bible study you are hosting in your home or at church,
    • A Mom's play group in your home, 
    • An event at your church or community; 
    • Your Sunday School lesson; 
    • Your secular book club; 
    • A business meeting; 
    • A job interview... 
    Regardless of what it is  - big or elaborate - BEGIN IN PRAYER.

    God will transform our little bit of organization and our little bit of talent and ability.  He'll pour His supernatural power and anointing on it...

    Oh girl!  The end result is not just another event where everyone leaves feeling inspired.   But an event where people leave resolved to think differently; behave differently and live differently because they've been touched afresh by the living God of the Universe.  

    This is the secret behind the success of ANY event.

    If you aren't sure where to start - This is a great starting place.  I teach you how to pray and organize in this little Prayer Journal tool.  (Available on Amazon)

    Special thanks to our Conference Prayer Team -

    Dina Hester - Leader and Organizer
    Sarah Bush
    Fuller Harvey
    Melody Merritt
    Amy Newton
    Ann Wiley

    Mothers and Daughters of 7-14 year olds...
    This is a REALLY cool event.  I'll be taking my daughter.  Your girls will LOVE this band.  Awesome roll models and great music.  Back stage passes available at a great price.
    Will share more next week!
    Mark your calendars. 

    1 Girl Nation/Making A Difference Extravaganza!

    Wednesday, March 26, 2014

    Praises, Pictures and Behind the Scenes

    1 Timothy 1:12
    "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me the strength to do His work..."

    The week following our Conference - I was surprised at the extent of how drained physically, spiritually and emotionally I was.  It took two weeks before I could fully look at the pictures.  Looking at them, seemed to remind my body that I was tired!  (Hence - a break.)

    Yet, three weeks later, I'm still amazed at all God did during our Women's Conference!  I have so many favorite things I want to share about the conference.  But let me ask you first...
    What was your favorite thing about the conference.  Click HERE to respond!   

    I have so many favorites.  I praise God for many things - but first and foremost -
    I praise God for John Mark Harrison, Lead Pastor and for Apex Baptist Church.   
    Yes, it's my home church, but they gave us such favor!   They partnered with us in such a dynamic way that honestly, we were blown away.  If you do not have a church home or are looking for one - consider Apex. The man can preach!  He's relevant and real - you'll love him.  Click HERE for more.

    I praise God for the women and girls whom He hand-picked to attend.  We lost count - minimally 350 were in attendance.
         


    Linda and Jen Barrick our keynote speakers were the bomb!  AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!  They sold out of all their books!  They were a blessing to many. (Their messages will be available next week.  Stay tuned!)




    The Band was awesome too!  Ryan did such a great job leading worship.  Many of you thought so too as reflected in the evaluations!



    Our breakout leaders!  One of the things we gleaned from the evaluations was that you seem to want more breakouts next year...  We'll see what we can do!

    There were mothers and daughters...


    Girlfriends and daughters...




    Girlfriend groups!


    Grateful for our Sponsors:
              

         

    We also had other sponsors that wished not to be identified, yet FREELY gave and helped us tremendously.  I wish I could name you publicly.  You know who you are.  THANK YOU.




    For our Non-Profit Sponsors:  Seeds of Mustard, Lighthouse Ministries, Transforming Hope and Hand of Hope.  (Which by the way, a phone number correction for Seeds of Mustard is: 919-651-0482)





    A great resource table that had something for everyone!

         
    Our Prayer Room - What an amazing room!  Please know, if you left a request it has been prayed over.

         

    Infusers!                           Our decorators!  So cute.  What a gift they have.



    Each table had one of these on them!  I've heard Moms telling me their daughters have placed these in their bedrooms as a reminder of the conference!

    BEHIND THE SCENES

    This picture was taken the evening before the conference.  Melody (center) the KGM Women's Conference Director, one of our sponsors, Margaret Coker (left) and a few others were putting the final touches on the conference.  I thank God for the many volunteers that gave of their time - to use their gifts and to ultimately bless many because of their service.


    This picture is special to me.  Aunt and niece who drove all the way from Virginia!   How sweet of this aunt to care so deeply about her niece.

    We had another gal from Omaha, Nebraska!  Several groups from Pennsylvania and all over from North Carolina!








    My daughter was there with all her peeps.  They LOVED it!  Caroline could tell me detail after detail all she learned in her workshops.  This is when you know you've been effective as a speaker.  Awesome!



    My sweet son, Will sat in the balcony and was a huge help to Melody our conference director.  He took out trash, helped with traffic, moved tables and chairs.  HUGE servant heart.  So grateful he not only wanted to come, but so willingly served the entire weekend.


    This picture was taken at my house the night after the conference was over.  This is a group of women who drove through lots of snow and ice.  They've had me speak at their Catholic church in Butler, Pa. We had a great pizza night prior to their 4am departure back!   (They left my house at 9 that night!  not 4am.)









    OK - You want to know what the grin is about?  This was the last keynote session and I was thinking -
    "WE DID IT!"  Relief!  I was sad it was over, yet at the same time was thrilled.

    I'm sure you have a favorite part!  It can be brief.  Share with me by  Click HERE

    Tomorrow:  The Secret Behind the Success of any Event


    Monday, March 24, 2014

    A Woman's God Ordained Priorities

    1 Timothy 3:5
    "For if a man can not manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church?"

    It is SO good to be back!   I've missed you these last few weeks.  Thank you to those of you who have written me to say, 'Where are you?'   Oh, how your notes bless my heart.

    I wear lots of work hats - just as many of you do.  The last few weeks have been a 'perfect storm' of sorts for me.

    • The Making a Difference Women's Conference (TITANIC EFFORT) by all involved.  More on this tomorrow.)
    • A Women's weekend retreat in the mountains of Tennessee -
    • A Teenage Girl weekend retreat in Chester, Va -
    These events occurred back to back to back weekends and required a total of 9 Holy Spirit inspired messages.  (Which by the way, IS A LOT!)  All the while, until today, my children have been on a 2 week spring break from school.  

    Did you hear me?  I said, a 2 WEEK SPRING BREAK.  Needless to say, balance is hard!

    We are all in different seasons, but balancing home and our jobs/ministries are paramount.  When perfect storms occur in our lives, I truly believe we find balance and God's favor when we live our God-ordained priorities.  

    What is a woman's God-ordained priorities?
    1.  Our relationship with Jesus.  (First and paramount.)
    2.  (If married), our spouse.  (First ministry and job according to Scripture)
    3.  (If children are in the home), our children.
    4.  Our homes.  Our homes are to be mini sanctuaries for our families.  This does not happen by accident.
    5.  Our extended families.
    6.  Our jobs.
    7.  Our ministries.
    8.  Our girlfriends.

    (Want more detail?  Created for Purpose goes into greater explanation.   Or on Amazon)  

    My temptation was to fit in blog posts - after all - I don't want to disappoint my audience whom I've grown to love and appreciate.  But the time and effort it takes to post blogs in addition to the retreat prep required - would have taken me far out of balance.

    So though I hated to disappoint you, pleasing God is first.  My wife and mom hat are primary.  In this season of life - my children are still young.   According to Scripture, how can I effectively manage KGM, if I neglect my primary job at home?  I can't.  Hence - no posts for 3 long weeks.

    Some of the things I took my children to do:
    We visited Krispy Kreme in downtown Raleigh for hot donuts.  It's a tradition every break!











    This was that moment when my daughter got frustrated because I told her 3 donuts were the limit.  (Ugh!  I can only eat 1 or I feel sick.)  She got over it.
    Something about those hot donuts!  





    Surprised my Dad at his office on his 65th birthday!






    My son's golf matches.








    Last week - after ALL the conferences were over, I took my children to visit my sister and her family in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
    My brother-in-law Steve, took us to a really nice restaurant our first night there called Rioz's.  It's a Brazilian steak house.  What an experience!  My son, Will has a love language called, "food."  He was clearly excited!








    Sunrises with Jesus is MY love language.  My children would sleep late and I got EXTENDED time with the Lord.  Truly, only time with Him can refresh our weary, tired souls.









    My other love language, quality time with one of the most important women in my life, my sister, Heather.  The weather became warm enough for us to sit on the beach one day! 








    Caroline with my nieces and nephew.  This was taken right before we got in the car to leave.  We were so sad when this was taken - it was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears.  I love and miss them in my everyday life.





    I've missed you too!  I'm so happy to get back in my work routine!   Despite the busyness, I've sat for hours at the feet of Jesus these last few weeks.  I'm refreshed and full.  Can't wait to share!  

    See you tomorrow.