conference recap

As I mentioned earlier, I was in St. Louis all last week with three other members of my church attending a conference on how to launch a small group program in our congregation. The series is called ChristCare, an operation of Stephen Ministries.

Like any conference, it was exciting, uplifting and motivating. And just like any conference, I arrived back home in reality wondering how in the world we are going to make it all work. Thanks to a 20 lb. manual (no joke), and five days of training, I feel equipped! And as a side note... it was one of the best-organized conferences I've ever attended. I loved seeing how all their detailed planning came off without a hitch. Even the manual was amazingly organized and now neatly holds every handout I received... sigh.

My favorite conference speaker, Rebekah Maul.



The band that played on Friday evening at the Closing Dedication banquet. The banners are the themes from each day of the conference (not the name of the band).



The three other members from my congregation who attended the conference



These are the amazing people from Table 4!
We sat together most of the week.



And the table emblem we worked on together. Our theme was growth, and we decided to make a tree, incorporating all the elements from the week (wind, wood, earth, water, fire). I know, it looked much better in person, BUT our table actually won the Sunshine award ("most brightens your day").



While in St. Louis, Scott and I were able to visit some of my
favorite family on my mom's side. Here we are out to lunch...



Scott and I at cousins' house



Showing them this blog (and trying to explain the concept)



The famous Arch









The Detroit skyline from our plane