Ladies Conference in Gatlinburg, TN

March 16, 2009

This past weekend some of the Ladies from our church attended the DARE FOR MORE conference in Gatlinburg, Tn. I was blessed to have heard some great speakers and the Lord was glorified throughout this conference in song and praise.

When we first arrived in Gatlinburg on Friday, we checked in our rooms and then were left to do as we chose until conference time that evening. A few of us walked downtown and did some shopping. Afterwards, we grabbed a nice dinner at a quaint little Mexican restaurant across from the conference center. Jennifer Grogan introduced me to a great healthy dish, called Ceviche, which I will definitely order the next time I dine at a Mexican restaurant.

The conference center was very nice and big. The ladies of Union Grove all had red t-shirts with Union Grove Baptist Church and "Praising Him in the Storm" on them, (thank you Kim) and we wore these in support of Tiffany Pollard who was one of the speakers for this conference. Tiffany did a fantastic job and we are so proud of her. The Lord is using her to reach others in storms of their own. We are praying for you Tiffany. Here are some pics of us getting ready for praise and worship.

Patty, Shana, & Staci ready for worship!

Kim, Diane, and Jennifer

Ladies coming in and filling the seats, ready for an evening of praise and worship!

Stephen came by for a visit and became the center of attention! We love you Stephen!

Reba Bowman brought the message for Friday night and read from Mark 4: 35-41. She spoke of the storm and how when the storm came, Jesus was asleep somewhere in the boat, and the disciples were very afraid and could not understand why Jesus was not saving them. They even had to shake him to wake him up and get his attention. Jesus did not get up and act excited or afraid about the situation even when the boat filled with water and the storm raged. Jesus knew the storm was there and he knew what he would do. He wanted them to see that he was in control of every storm and that every storm is directed by him. Jesus responded with peace be still and he rebuked the wind. He even asked, "why are ye so fearful?" "How is it that ye have no faith?"

Reba Bowman spoke from Acts 27. The apostle Paul was on a ship on his way to be tried for preaching the Gospel. A storm (hurricane) came up and on Day 1, they secured the ship and prepared it to withstand the storm. Day 2, they began throwing things overboard that were not needed. Day 3, they started throwing essential things of the ship overboard, things they would need but knew they had to throw overboard to lighten the ship from sinking. Day 4 there was no stars and no hope. Paul disappeared and went to spend time alone with God. Paul comes back and tells everyone on the ship to "Be of Good Cheer." He tells them that the Lord sent an angel to him to let him know that no one would die. Again, the Lord is in complete control of the storms in our lives if we will just have the faith that he is God and can do anything. He is more powerful than any storm in our lives. Even after they lost the ship and were shipwrecked on the island with the natives, God used Paul to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the natives after he was bitten by a snake that should have killed him. God saved his life to minister to the natives and soldiers. God wants to use each and every one of us!

On Saturday morning, there were a couple of ladies to speak. One was a young lady by the name of Kelli, who as a teenager had lost one of her legs in a boating accident. God used the storm in her life to minister to other amputees. One of the amputees that she ministered to was a young man by the name of Jordan Thomas. He had suffered the loss of both legs in a boating accident and she had ministered to him and his family during this storm. Later in her life, Kelli went on to marry and have one child. She became pregnant with her 2nd child and at her 20 month ultrasound, they were told that their daughter would have Downs syndrome and a birth defect where the esophagus is not connected to the stomach. She admitted to us that she had questioned whether she could ever love this child or take care of this child. She said just because we are Christians does not mean that we do not get angry and hurt. On June 12th, her daughter, Claire was born with Downs syndrome and esophageal detachment. She was in the hospital for over 200 days. At 4 1/2 months old, they did a surgery to correct the defect and complications arose after surgery. The doctors gave Claire less than 24 hours to live. Kelli's testimony showed God's perfect timing during the storm when a female doctor by the name of Liz Kennedy came to Kelli and told her that she believed that Claire could still be saved. She was not ready to give up on Kelli's daughter as the other doctors were. She told Kelli there were surgeries that could be done but they were also very dangerous and could take Claire's life. Kelli and her husband prayed and gave their daughter over to God. The surgeries were a success and Claire is 2 years old now. The doctor that was not ready to give up on Claire was the mother of Jordan Davis, the amputee that Kelli had ministered to many years ago. What an awesome God we serve!

Later that afternoon, they had a drawing from a basket and Patty Fletcher won a very nice prize. It was a Coffee Maker with lots of coffee goodies. As you can see, Staci, Patty's daughter is in the picture because Patty is giving the present to Staci as part of Staci's wedding present. Patty is so sweet and a wonderful mother!

The other lady to speak was Sue White and her testimony impacted my life the most. Sue testified about her wayward son and how she had prayed for him for 40 years. Her son had grown up going to a christian school and attending church. He had made many professions of faith in Christ but as he became a teenager and adult, his life took a different turn. He married and became involved in drugs and alcohol. He lost his wife, his business, and was arrested for selling drugs. His life was in ruins but through someone else inviting him to church, he surrendered his life to Christ and was truly transformed. After his transformation, he asked his mother one day if she loved God. She responded with a yes. He then asked her if she really loved God and she responded yes. He then asked her why. She said because he saved you. He then turned to his mother and asked, "why can't you love God because he saved you?" Sue said that she realized her home had been a church-centered home but not a Christ-centered home. She had failed to show the true depth of love that she had for Jesus Christ. She went to church and was very active in her church but did not show a true heart of worship & love in her home for Christ.

As Christians, we must be transparent so that others can see the love of Christ in our lives. There are many people hurting, weathering storms of their own but we can't reach them unless they see Christ in us!

The last message that Reba Bowman brought to us was that we as Christians can sing in the rain!

She took us to Habakkuk Chapter 3. She defined what the word Shigionoth means: tempo of a song meaning wild passionate song, sung with great excitement. She defined the word Selah meaning to pause (heightening of the musical accompaniment when the words pause and the singer meditates). We can praise him during the storm! We should praise him during the storm!

We must pray during the storms. She gave us 4 things to remember in our rejoicing:

1. God is our salvation.

2. God is our strength.

3. God has made us sure-footed in dangerous places.

4. God has made us to walk in high places.

No situation is to hard for God! He controls our time and our days! We worship whom we trust and trust whom we know! God is good all the time. All the time God is good!