Women of Joy

A few months ago GK heard about this conference that was going to be in Louisville, KY that she thought my mom and I might be interested in. When mom told me who the speakers and artist was going to be... I was totally in!

It was a Women of Joy Conference with Candace Cameron, Lisa Harper, Chonda Pierce, and Karen Kingsbury as the speakers and a concert with Casting Crowns on Saturday night.

I took off on Friday and met mom in Louisville around lunch time. We drove around, using the GPS as a guide to find something to eat. After driving around for a while, finding the random, hole-in-wall places the GPS led us to, we settled for Fazoli's. We did get a nice tour of the University of Louisville! :)

In a totally not planned turn of events, we were able to meet up with Emily and her mom, who were also in town for the conference and walk to the arena. We ended up staying in neighboring hotels right across the street from the arena. We were blessed with great weather and beautiful walks to and from the arena each session! Friday night and Saturday morning we enjoyed Candace Cameron, Lisa Harper, and Chonda Pierce. I truly enjoyed each of their sessions.

Saturday afternoon we had no plans and since Emily and her mom had no plans, we decided to hang out together. We had lunch at J. Alexanders where we had wonderful service, delicious looking (no seriously it all looked soooo good), delicious tasting food, and best of all a couple hours of some much needed conversation. A little walk around the mall and some yummy cheesecake ended the afternoon before heading back to the arena for the Casting Crowns concert.

There was a contest for a cruise that we all signed up for, of course none of us thinking we'd get picked. I always wanted to be picked for one of those things or at least know someone who was. They called 7 names for a contest to see who would win the cruise and Ms. Loraine got picked! It was so crazy!! They called out her city and then the church and then her name... her face was so funny!! It was so fun seeing her up on stage in front of a few thousand people! She ended up not winning the cruise but did get a Starbucks gift card!

The concert was amazing and they sang one of my very favorite songs. It was such a great time of worship! Sunday morning was Karen Kingsbury, ( I love her books!!) and then lunch before the drive back home.

I needed this weekend so badly. God used each of the speakers to speak encouragement directly to my heart and I got to worship alongside 3 of my very favorite people in the world. I miss my friend so very much and it was so wonderful to just get to hang out together. I love how He worked the weekend out just perfectly. And at just the right time.

* Pictures to come... when I get them from mom!