Sunday, March 13, 2016

Learning to Live Abundantly

As I'm sitting down to write this I am filled with peace and joy following the weekend I had in Asheville. I got to spend it with my mom, both of my grandmothers and my aunt- oh and 3,500 other women.
As a gift to my grandmother for her 80th birthday my mom treated us to this girls weekend at Lifeway's Abundance Event. A 2 day conference for women of faith filled with inspirational speakers, awesome music and sweet time with family.

Speaking of that family part of it- did you catch the part about my Grandma turning 80? Guys, my grandma is the coolest 80 year old there is and I am so lucky to have her!
She is still up for anything and everything and the time I spent with her this weekend was so precious. 

On Friday we headed up to Asheville and checked into our hotel before heading to get our seats at the event. They had it at the US Cellular Center and we wanted to make sure we got good seats. The event began at 7:00 and we spent the next three hours worshipping together and hearing two incredible speakers. Oh and did I mention Natalie Grant was there to put on a concert?! That was an awesome experience- her voice is so powerful!  Our worship leader for the weekend was Christy Nockles and she was incredible! She had a beautiful voice and I loved that she taught us a few new songs but also sang some of my favorites. My mom and Grandma got to meet her and get her cd signed too! 

Our speakers for the evening were Annie Downs- an author, speaker and blogger and Curtis Jones- a pastor from Texas (also the son-in-law of Beth Moore). Both were great but y'all Annie Downs. I seriously want to be best friends with this girl. She had such a genuine personality and you just know that the person talking to you on stage is the same as if it were just the two of you. On the way out I got to get a copy of one of her books- "Let's All Be Brave- Living Life With Everything You Have".  This book could've had my name written right on it and I am so excited to dive into it. AND on top of that I got to get it signed and meet Annie. That confirmed my belief that she was just as sweet and genuine as she appeared on stage.  


By the time we were heading back to the hotel it was getting close to 11 and we were all pretty hungry. What do you do at 11:00 on a Friday night? Go to Waffle House of course! My Mema had never been so it seemed like a good idea...it always does until the next morning right? Waffle House is always a good spot for people watching but if I'm being totally honest, with how silly we were being we may have been the ones being watched! 

Saturday meant an early morning to get ready and head back to the event. Our morning brought more worship music and the women of She Reads Truth. If you haven't heard of She Reads Truth you need to go online right now and check it out. I have been using She Reads Truth for several months as a devotional and it is awesome! I was so excited to get to hear from these two ladies AND meet them in person. 

They were the sweetest women and I am so excited about the new study I picked up- Open Your Bible. The goal of She Reads Truth is to encourage women to be in The Word on a daily basis together. They remind us that the Bible is for us and for right now. This study helps us dig in to those words. 

Later on in the morning we heard from two more excellent speakers- Lisa Harper (who also was our host for the weekend) and Lisa Terkeurst. Both of these women are hilarious first of all. And they also both have amazing stories to tell. The wisdom gained from these two speakers was inspiring and convicting. It brought me to tears but also had me bent over with laughter as did the whole weekend. 

I am so thankful for the time spent with family and with the Lord this weekend. It has set my soul on fire and I am eagerly anticipating what is going to develop in my life from this experience. I started my morning with both of my new books and it was a wonderful way to begin my day and the week ahead. 




6 comments:

  1. I am your Mom's age ( actually I know her from NJ), but that said? Annie Downs ROCKS! I listened to/ met her at Blissdom in Texas a few years ago. She is the real deal. A special young woman. A child of God. So happy you heard her speak! And you resonated with what she said!

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  2. I did go to She Reads Truth, and thank you for the suggestion! Her watercolors are so pretty and her scripture choices are perfect. I love that you had such a great weekend experience with your grandma and mom. Wonderful memories and love so rich!

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    1. Yes! Their things are so pretty- I think it makes me devotion time a little sweeter having such beautiful things! Thanks for popping by!

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  3. I'm glad you had a great time. Very proud of you. XOXOXOX. Dad

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  4. Oh Maggie, you really put into words how I have been feeling since our trip. It was an absolutely fabulous time with all of us together and the music, speakers just great. I'm thrilled with Annie's book too. Thank you for such a special birthday--and so far 80 is great. Love you. Gma

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  5. What a nice recap of a fabulous weekend. So happy we got to share it together xo

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