Friday morning we met at a neutral location, sorted out who was riding in what cars, were given our room assignments, and then headed off to Dallas. I rode with Sarah, Barb, Amy, and Jen. It was great getting to know these beautiful ladies more. We arrived at American Airlines Center (AAC) found our seats and settled in for an amazing day of 'Over the Top' stories. We heard from Patsy Clairmont, who is such a little ball of fire! She came onto the stage wearing a bluish sequin, sparkly jacket and shiny red wedges! That woman is so amazing and inspirational! We also heard from Andy Andrews (yep, he is a man and crashed the conference). I am not sure how best to describe Andy. He is SO energetic (no really, he is! He ran around the stage and first rows of the audience and talked so fast) and full of the Holy Spirit it was contagious. He is also very inspiring. I am excited to read his books. We also saw some drama by Katherine Everett. There was some people from World Vision there with plenty of children in need of sponsoring. Peter and I have talked about sponsoring a child for years now and have never done it. I started to feel a need to pray about this and see where God was leading me. Sarah wanted to leave a little early to get checked into our rooms to beat the rush. We got to our hotel and after a little bit, were all ready to head to our room. After settling in, we all met in the lobby to head to dinner. We went to Ojada's for some Mexican food. I felt a little out of place at first, since I didn't really know the people I was sitting around but after a bit, everything was great! All of a sudden, we see Dane and James. They found seats around the two long rows of tables and proceeded to hang out with us. Hmmm. While waiting for our food to arrive, Dane stood up and told us he was going to give out some $25 gift cards to those who answer some trivia questions correctly. Some of the questions were: What is Sarah's favorite movie? (a- The Wizard of Oz). What is Dane's middle name? (a- Mitchell). What were 3 things (I think) that Sarah said drove her nuts about Brad? (a- his hair loss, leaving toothpaste in the sink...). It was good times had by all... even 2 guys raised their hands to answer. =-]
After dinner, we headed back to AAC for a night of entertainment. We heard from Patsy and Andy again as well as Lisa Welchel (Blair from The Facts of Life) and Mandisa! It was pretty crazy how much Lisa looks like she did forever ago! She is such an inspiration! Her story about having difficulty with finding friends hit so close to home! Her book is another I am looking forward to reading. I have to say that the highlight of the night was when Mandisa came out to sing! That girl has an amazing voice!!!!!! Plus, Lyndee and Beth were just singing away behind us. =-] They mentioned World Vision again and said that there were bags with info about a child on every seat. No one around me had a bag. Hmmm. That was about as far as I thought about it. We also heard from Brenda Warner. She has a very interesting story but is not a very good speaker. Oh well! I still enjoyed her. After the festivities ended at AAC, we headed back to the hotel to have snacks in the lobby.
The next morning the hotel had a very elaborate spread for breakfast. Then it was off to the AAC one last time. This morning when I got to my seat their was a bag with a picture of a little girl in it from World Vision. I was the only one in my row that had a picture (at least of the people directly next to me). I looked at the little girls picture and promptly set it aside. Still unsure what to do, I went along with the day. Today we heard from Patsy Clairmont again. Heard Sandi Patti sing and speak. Brenda Warner speak again - rather finish her story from last night. Another drama. Amy Grant was our singing entertainment for the day and she too, has an amazing voice. She is just a little dry in her sense of humor and speaks so quietly. After Amy Grant, we heard from Marilyn Meberg. She is a fascinating woman as well. But after the quiet voice of Amy Grant and the more mono tone voice of Marilyn Meberg... I was ready for a nap. At some point in the afternoon, I decided to check out this bag with the little girls picture. I took out the paper with her picture and information and began to read. Her name is Zeinebuo and she is 8 years old. She loves math and to dance. When I read those two pieces of information, I knew this little girl was going to be ours! Well, ours in the sense that I had to sponsor a little girl that encompassed both of my own girls! I texted Peter and gave him her information as well as her picture. With Peter's blessing, I filled out the form so, we could be her sponsor. When I handed the payment information to the lady at the World Vision table, I felt God had his hand in choosing Buo (her new nickname)for us! I can't wait to get her first letter and send her ours! Thank you God, for putting Buo on my seat!
This is Buo. Isn't she beautiful?
The day was coming to a close and I was on cloud 9.
We took a group photo and then headed off back toward Aubrey.
I actually had Sarah drop me off at Buffalo Wild Wings to meet Peter and MeL & Dave to watch the UFC fights.
So, after telling you all that happened during the conference, I come to the 'A New Beginning...' part of my post. I have come to the realization that my life has been all about me and not about Jesus. I am tired of feeling as if something is missing! I pray for people, myself, needs, and whatever else but feel like I am missing something as I do. The realization here is that I am crying out to God but not as loud as He is crying out to me! I have to make an effort to come before God, read His word, and most of all... live my life FOR Him not for myself. I looked in my Bible for advice and discovered several verses concerning Discovering God's Will. My goal is to read these verses daily and really let them sink in. So far, I have been doing well with my goal and the exciting thing is that I feel calmer. When I start to feel agitated, I just tell myself to calm down and I refer back to those verses. I know that Jesus wouldn't get mad over silly things like I do.
Thank you Lord for opening my eyes to see that this life is so not about me but ALL ABOUT YOU!
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