Doubly Behind and Doubly Blessed

Let’s do a little catch up friends! I just got back from Okinawa, Japan, but before I delve into the details about that out-of-this-world trip and conference, I want to take you back to another splendid outing.

So let’s do a double take on Bellevue, Washington!

On February 23rd I flew into Seattle and met up with my ministry assistant, dear friend and birthday buddy, Kim Tucker. It would sound awfully jet-setty to say that we just made the trip to celebrate our mutual birthday, but we had even bigger fish frying! We were there for another Satisfied…at Last! Conference. This time I would be presenting the conference to about 250 wonderful women over two days at Crossroads Bible Church in Bellevue, Washington.

We were met at the airport by Melanie, the Women’s Ministry event assistant at Crossroads, and her friend Donna, the official Sweet Helper and Driver for the weekend. They gifted us with salted chocolate caramels made in Seattle and whisked us off to our hotel. After they checked us in, Kim and I headed for one of our favorite restaurants, Maggiano’s Little Italy, in downtown Bellevue, to celebrate our big day.

The Conference itself took place Friday night and Saturday morning and afternoon. The ladies were treated to desserts and coffee after the Friday evening session and a scrumptious luncheon during Saturday. Take a look at this lovely lunch idea.

The lunch consisted of four different “lady” salads packaged individually in small plastic containers, bundled in a cellophane bag, topped with a delicious cookie, and wrapped with a ribbon. How precious is that! And it was all so tasty too.

I thoroughly enjoyed serving alongside talented musician and worship leader Timothy Meaney during the conference sessions. Timothy regularly leads worship at Crossroads and wasn’t daunted at all by singing along with a room full of females. He is such a godly man with a true passion for leading others to the throne room for worship.

I absolutely loved this group of ladies. They truly evidenced a hunger for God’s Word from the very beginning. The Women’s Ministry Director, Paulette, assured me over lunch Friday that the women of Crossroads are used to being fed from the Bible and would settle for nothing less. Those are words that delight my soul! So we opened God’s Word and ate it up that weekend.

I’m sitting on the platform

between Paulette, women’s ministry

director, and Sil, their prayer coordinator.

And that’s another thing I can brag on these ladies for: they were prayed up! I’ve known since I was contacted by Melanie for this event, that these ladies were praying through every step. I’ve learned that when women pray, God moves mightily. His fingerprints were all over this special weekend of Bible study and worship.

In the photo above you get a glimpse at the lovely decorations the ladies used to bring a touch of spring to the event. You’ll notice that the photo on the screen features a woman clad in winter wear for the conference theme artwork, but the feeling inside was warm and lovely.

I loved sharing with the ladies about our hungry souls, how God desires to feed our souls exclusively and well, and how we can go about eating from the King’s table by digesting His Word. They received the messages well and I believe many of them made a fresh or even new commitment to begin meditating on and memorizing Scripture.

But even more than speaking to the ladies from the platform, I enjoyed meeting them one-on-one, talking with them about what God is doing in their lives, and even praying with them. God has truly blessed me with the opportunity to meet so many of His precious daughters in recent months. It is exciting to see Him at work in their lives. And it is humbling to think I might have anything to do with their journey in Him.

Thank you Melanie (of whom I did not manage to get even one photo!), Paulette, and Pastor Jerry Mitchell for allowing me the privilege of ministering at Crossroads Bible Church that precious weekend. It was definitely one of my all time favorite events. And I don’t mean among women’s ministry events; I mean among my life events! How blessed I am to have been among you for those special days.

Tomorrow: Mine and Kim’s exploits in Seattle.

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