Thankful Thursday - What an Amazing Weekend!

Oh my goodness! I don't even know where to start when describing the weekend I just had! A little over a year ago I was reading Beth Moore's blog and she challenged her readers as well as herself to make 2009 a year about memorizing scripture. After reading her post, I was so excited about committing to a year of hiding the Word in my heart and I asked one of my very best friends, Mandy if she would do it with me so that I could be accountable. (I just KNEW that I wouldn't do this unless someone else was pushing me. :) Mandy was a perfect accountability partner and 2009 was the perfect year to be pouring scripture into my heart and mind! We memorized 24 scripture passages throughout the year and to motivate us even more, Beth planned a Scripture Memory Team Celebration the following January in Houston that would be a free event for all the Siesta's who committed to this. Not only was this a big challenge for me and Mandy, but we both also had a pretty crazy 2009. Mandy had baby Dax last summer and I was trying to just keep up with life chasing around my 3 kiddos 3 and under and keepig up with the demands of ministry. EVERY scripture we learned applied in some way to what I was going through personally during the course of the year and just like what Beth said at the conference, I feel like if someone were to get my note card booklet and read it, they would have a good picture of the ups and downs of my life last year. :)

So the celebration event in Houston was so much more than a weekend sitting under Beth's teaching for me. Beth has been one of my spiritual mentor's since I first saw her teach at Passion '97. I was only 17 then! She and her ministry to women mean so much to me and I praise God for her passion and love for the Lord that I so desire. I have done many of her Bible studies and even was blessed to have the opportunity to be one of her 'Hometown Houston Girls' on Tuesday nights when we lived in Katy several years back. The Lord has used her to speak directly into my heart and life on so many occasions. Who knew way back in '97 that I would be a pastor's wife here in 2010! So, I was celebrating not only what Mandy and I accomplished over 2009, but also the journey He has taken me on for so many years with Beth as a part of my life. Thank you to Beth and LPM ministries for giving me and so many other women a weekend that I will never forget! Here are some pictures from the fabulous weekend:

Me, Mandy and Beth. I heart this pic so much! We were so excited that she stuck around to take pictures after the event. It was the icing on the cake for us to spend a moment with her and take a picture.

One of the greatest friends the Lord has ever given me. We talked so much during the weekend that my sweet friend lost her voice! When the two of us get together we do talk A LOT!! Mandy, thank you for taking this journey with me. You are an amazing woman and a true friend! Love ya, girl!

This is Travis Cottrell and he led the worship for us throughout the weekend. He truly does have an amazing gift of being able to lead others to the throne of worship! Check out his music here: http://www.traviscottrell.com/.

Me and Mandy with Kim and Melle. I just knew that we were going to see someone we knew at the conference. There were only 500 other women at the event (I say only b/c there would usually be thousands! Both Mandy and I were very excited about this! :) On the first night during our coffee and chocolate cake time Mandy spotted Melle. It was so fun to see both Melle and Kim (Both women who live in Waco and go to FBC Woodway) and have time to talk and catch up. Melle is a sweet friend from our Waco days and she also facilitated several Beth Moore Bible studies that I was a part of. I TOTALLY miss that group of ladies and the fun times we had on Wednesday nights! :( Kim was (ok - I have to say it...) was one of my P.E. coaches in ELEMENTARY school and also a very special woman in my life during my high school years. (It was a full circle moment for me with all these spiritual mentor ladies at this conference!) Kim taught my Sunday School class every Sunday morning and I still don't think she even knows the kind of impact she had on my life. I also have fun memories of a San Antonio trip my senior year that Kim took our group on. Fun times! It was so great to see both of these sweet ladies!

Here is a pic of Beth and her daughters, Amanda and Melissa on stage during the event. All three of them are just so beautiful and fun!

And this is a pic of Beth with a precious 8 year old girl who memorized scripture all year with her mom and came to the Celebration Event. Now that is amazing! ( And I was proud of myself as a 30 year old! ;)

Here is a picture of me and Mandy holding up our note cards. That little booklet has come to mean a lot to me. I guess anything would be after you carry it around with you for a full year. :) I thought I lost mine at one point of last year and I was so sad to think that I was going to have to write the scriptures that I had already memorized over again. It just wasn't going to be the same without Audrey's (my 2 year olds') purple pen marks all over some of the verses. BUT I found it and was able to keep up with it. It was also our ticket in the door on Friday night. Such a neat thing to see all these women's notebooks (from 42 states and Canada - we didn't meet anyone else from Texas the whole weekend besides Kim and Melle!)

Things I loved about the weekend: Quality time with Mandy, worship - AMAZING!, being anonymous - LOVED that no one there knew me! As a matter of fact at one point during the weekend, Beth asked the pastor's wives and women ministers to raise their hands and I felt like I had blown my cover. Like the two sweet ladies from Pennsylvania that we were sitting next to us had just found out my TRuE identity! Haha! :) I also loved Beth's teaching from Psalm 119. She opened up so much about this amazing passage like she always does and the Lord spoke to my heart on several occasions. I LOVED that I could go to this conference and be poured into. I needed that more than I knew. :) Thank you, Lord for incredible times like this past weekend that you give us as just another reminder of how much you love and adore us! It was a time that I will NEVER forget! Thanks for reading!