She Speaks 2012-The People

She Speaks 2012 was an amazing experience.   Earlier this year, the Lord used a passage out of 2 Peter to confirm this was a step of obedience He was asking of me.  "Though they are aliens who have been scattered, they have been chosen to obey Jesus Christ."  I thought that's how I would feel, like an alien and stranger who had been scattered. Ya know, packing up, heading to North Carolina where I knew no one, going to a conference for speakers and writers.  By myself.

The night before I left I got 3 hours of sleep.  What on earth have I gotten myself into???  What purse should I take?  It was the middle of the night and I'm re-working totes, purses and luggage.  We picked my husband up from the airport and 9 hours later I was heading back to fly into the wild blue yonder.

I was not alone though.  The friendly faces greeted me the entire way.  Precious women on the plane, encouraging me.  They were handpicked by God alone! 

One of the most fun surprises was meeting Gretchen!  She is the most humble, sweet spirited, encourager you'll ever meet.  Gretchen is gifted with writing truth and her words of wisdom have encouraged me so many days when I needed it.  She writes at New Every Morning.  We got to have lunch together and can I just tell you it was so amazing getting to eat together and visit in person!  I love this girl!

My boys had a good time editing our photos.  The Shark Accessory.  It's making a come back.

Now I want you to meet my roomie, Stephanie.  This is the first time I've ever stayed with someone I did not know.  Can I just tell you that I prayed for sheer, flat out blessing on me and my roommate.  I'm not one to ask for favor and blessing like that, but I did on this one.  And God was so fun in putting Stephanie and I together.  Oh, she is one amazing girl.  She's a prayer warrior, a giver and an encourager.  It was perfect to get to share our She Speaks journey together.  I'll be telling you more about her later in the week.

Cary!  This surprise was one of the sweetest.  For weeks I thought I was going alone.  At the very end, I found out Cary, a friend from college ministry back in the day, was also going.  We really enjoyed getting to sit together, process and take it all in together.  Cary is an extremely gifted artist. You can view her website here.  She sells gorgeous calenders that make great gift ideas.  They are under $20!

Wait for it, wait for it...

I.  Met.  The Nester!  I will never forget the surprise on my face when I turned a corner, kept walking, past her and then stopped dead in my tracks.  THAT WAS THE NESTER?!  I didn't even turn around.  I just walked backwards to do a double-take.  She saw me and started laughing.  You know,  you never want to be the paparazzi asking for a pic, but I mean really.  I had to say hi!  Here is an old entry from 3 years ago when I applied to win a scholarship to She Speaks.  One of the reasons I wanted to go was to meet Nester.  God has a funny sense of humor!

She was visiting her sister, Emily, who writes at Chatting At The Sky, and recently published the book, Grace For The Good Girl.

To say there were surprises around every corner is an understatement!

This is Mary, you can meet her here.  She was my Speaker Evaluation Group leader.  She is beautiful and funny.  And she was so kind to us, easing our nerves by her smile and humor.

This special group of ladies and I share a common bond.  This is our Speaker Evaluation Group.  We are the wild women who voluntarily signed up to give two talks and have them each evaluated.  Yikes!  I learned so much from their wisdom, it was a precious time.

So that's a wrap on the people edition of She Speaks. There is so much to share I'm having to contain myself to break it up.  I met more amazing women than the beautiful faces here.


Every woman with a different story, all working together for the display of His Glory.  It was an amazing sight to behold.