A Weekend of Spiritual Refreshment...

This past weekend, our family headed to Virginia for a Christian Conference in Sedalia, VA called Celebrate The Glory.

As you can see, the drive down to Roanoke, where we stayed, (about 6 1/2 - 7 hrs) was lovely!

Because the leaves were in their full glory, hotel rooms were as scarce as hens teeth! (Did you like that southern expression Marci? See, it rubbed right off on me! hee hee hee) Thus, we had to drive about 50 minutes from our hotel to the event. Here are my sweetie and two children bright and early in the morning!

The church that sponsored this event did a fabulous job coordinating this event! Above, you can see the wagon which was laden with homemade, scrumptious bagels, and fruit. It was quite chilly Sat. morning, so they had plenty of hot coffee and tea too. Later in the day, they also served us a delicious, nutritious lunch!

There were also some vendors set up selling wonderful resources!

The decorations they did were gorgeous! What a talented group of people who love the Lord!

The speakers opened by each saying a word of prayer.

One of the speakers was Mr. Ken Jenkins, pictured above. He is a world-renowned wildlife photographer, and a very godly man, and gifted speaker. Our family was very blessed by him! He was also a very generous man, as he donated the prizes for the great photography contest that they held! There were some great photos submitted!

We were also very blessed by the Unfolding Drama team! The Rozeboom and Brand families have the passion and gifting to make Bible stories come alive using stories and drama. If you ever get a chance to see them--don't miss it! (Mrs. Brand is the daughter of Mike/Debi Pearl)

There was also music, and other speakers, including Uniting Church and Home's Eric Wallace. The focus of the conference was the importance of God's Word-reading it, and memorizing it. What a great time of fellowship with other believers, and refreshing of spirit by focusing on God and His Word!

Note: FYI, some of the music at this event was contemporary, not something our family sanctions. :)

Then, on Sunday, we had the privilege of visiting a wonderful Family-Integrated church called Heritage Baptist in Vinton, VA. What a sweet congregation and staff there! We felt right at home, and had a wonderful time of worshipping the Lord with them! We attended their worship service, and then a fellowship meal. We would have LOVED to have stayed for Family School, but alas, had to head for home.

Thank you Lord for the great like-minded fellowship we had with your people!

We needed it!