Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Allume Recap

recap one of who knows how many.... there is so much I want to share.

Here's my summary that I posted on facebook:
what I keep saying and what my husband seemed to like the best was when I summed up the weekend by saying 'this was a Christian conference with some blogging thrown into it..... not a blogging conference with some Christian thrown in to it'
I felt this the entire time I was there.  The keynote speakers were amazing. Even though they may have meant for their speeches to be directed towards blogging most of them could easily be applied to any area of your life.  And to hear so many women using God and Jesus in the same sentence as living life was just wonderful. My heart, soul, and spirit were so refreshed and encouraged.

I also learned something about myself - I'm only an extrovert with people I already know. I spent the first afternoon/evening and most of Friday blundering around coveting what the other ladies all seemed to have - one special friend they were sharing everything with.  I was so sad I hadn't found that one lady to make a connection with and would be lifetime buddies with from here on out. Friday was super busy and by lunchtime I was exhausted, sad, overwhelmed, and truly needed a break. I called Nathan and had him come get me so I could take a nap.  Went back to the hotel, napped, and spent some time just chatting with Nathan.  I had to be back at the hotel at 4:00 because I had signed up to volunteer at the Mercy House table.  I went back with just a new attitude and joy... not knowing what was about to happen.

When I got to the table no one else was there yet so I just tried to wing it as well as I could when ladies asked me questions. ha!  Then this sweet lady come up to join me in my slot of volunteering... we chatted and she asked how I was enjoying the conference... I was honest and said 'it's going well, but I am truly waiting to meet my bosom friend'.... YES I did say that and her response 'ME TOO'.  And she knew exactly who I was talking about.... we still haven't decided who is Anne and who is Diane but that's ok. :)  God is so good.... and boom there was my new bosom friend to enjoy the rest of the weekend with.  We even talked about how much we wanted to have a sleep over to get to know each other. :)  Which would be pretty awkward since I was rooming with Nathan. (oh and go check out her blog - Only A Breath!)

Friday was super busy and very jam packed which is why I finally took a step back and rested a bit. Saturday was less busy and we had lots of free time to mingle, shop, and use the prayer room if needed. They also had impact opportunities to participate in - I'll be sharing more on those at a later day but let me tell you - finding the words to describe 400+ women being the hands and feet of Christ in actively serving others is going to be pretty difficult. The Spirit was alive and moving in that hotel. 

We were blessed in so many ways - just with the beginning swag bag to almost every meal walking into that ballroom and finding another gift laying on the table waiting for us.  I need to head to the chiropractor this week just from trying to carry my bag all weekend. :) Below are some pictures of all the goodies we received from the team, speakers, vendors, and friends.  God blessed our socks off for sure.





I am beyond thankful for this amazing time of fellowship.  It was just amazing and a time in my life that I hope to never forget. I plan to take some time and recap each day of the conference with some pictures, reviews of the speakers, etc in the coming weeks.  I really didn't learn anything about growing or expanding my blog and I am totally ok with that - seeing how some of the more popular bloggers were smothered most of the weekend - I'm comfortable being a small blogger for quite awhile. :)

1 comment:

  1. YAY!!!!! I am so thankful for our God-appointed time together! :) I LOVE your quote about the conference. That is the best summary quote about the conference I have read! Praying you will feel rested up this week -- I'm still fighting exhaustion! Ha! Maybe I had a little too much fun :)

    hugs,
    Melanie

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