Vineyard Sisters Faith Conference Recap

Hello ladies! I want to take this opportunity to say once again how thankful I am to have the opportunity to share this blog with you--it has been such a blessing to my life and I hope you are blessed in the reading of it!

For those of you who were not able to join us this past Saturday at the Vineyard Sisters Faith Conference where we discussed the topic "Casting Down Idols," I thought I would give you a glimpse into some of the activities that took place so you can be making plans to attend next year! I was privileged to have been asked by our sister Pat Sayen to lead one of the four break-out groups (the other three were helmed by Glennell West, Sabra Ellis and Joan Wiser--and boy, did I feel the pressure to provide even a tenth of the wisdom that these ladies brought to their groups!) and from all the conversations I overheard or was a part of, the discussion that took place in each group (also known as a BOG) was phenomenal. Kudos to Gayla Wood for choosing a topic that held such relevance for those of us living in the 21st century!

I'm ashamed that I don't know exactly who was responsible for all the behind-the-scenes work; I know the kind of heart these ladies have and I'm sure they wouldn't even want to be singled out for praise, but the Registration and Fellowship areas looked beautiful!



Corner Bakery provided boxed lunches that contained three varieties of sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit, big chewy cookies and the cutest and most delicious mini-bundt cake I have ever seen or tasted in my life! You can see the bundt cakes in the photo above, wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon.


Pictured here from left to right: Courtney Goff, Harriet Wharton, Marla (Harriet's sister), Gayla, our illustrious speaker, Sarah Wood, Gayla's sweet daughter, and Sarah's aunt Gerri (I apologize here both for the spelling, which I'm unsure of, and the relation to Gayla, of which I am also unsure).


The next four photos are from our break-out groups. In these pictures, participants were given an assignment to find as many scripture references as they could that related to a particular topic (the Condition of our Hearts, God's Importance and Idols). Each BOG was in a fun little competition with the other three to see who could come up with the most TOTAL references for all three topics combined. The result was three big scrolls of paper that extended across the stage--that's what you see in the fifth photo below.






And I couldn't end without including a shot of the verse that was at the foundation of Gayla's lesson on getting rid of the idols in our lives and putting God first--one of my favorite scriptures: Joshua 24:15.



Now aren't you sorry you weren't there?!