Faithwalkers 2011: Blessed

We had a wonderful time at Faithwalkers this year. We got to learn several truths about how blessed we are as believers in Christ. Our boys sat quietly on a blanket and played with quiet toys for a few of the messages, allowing Luke and I to listend intently. (The others, they did not! But for how young they are, they did a decent job in a difficult situation for a young child.) One of the messages I got to hear was about how we are blessed to be able to know God! It really truely is a priviledge to know God, seek God, pray to God, learn from God through his bible, and expereince God as we step out in faith and see him come through for us. This faithwalkers, I contemplated how much Luke and I desire to endure and persevere in following Christ. I think that one of the most important elements in thriving spiritually and having success in accomplishing that, is to know God in a personal, experiential, and daily way. Knowing God definately is a blessing.

This picture is the only one of us actual doing something that related to 'faithwalkers.' Luke held Brooks and McCabe while singing worship songs. The rest of the pictures show us trying to keep the boys entertained inbetween the sessions!

Our days started out in the room with milk and breakfast. McCabe is enjoying his breakfast. This is the closest you can get to breakfast in bed, without actually being in bed.

Some mid-day wrestling to keep themselves entertained in confined and relatively toy-less spaces. They also did a lot of hide and seek behind the curtains.

On a particularily wild afternoon I let them watch TV for 15 minutes as they winded down for nap. They voluntarily jumped into bed and snuggled right beside each other!I got to spend about an hour in the hallway every afternoon reading to Leighton, or helping him do puzzles since our room was dark and silent for the other two babies to finish their nap.Some afternoon escalator riding on the huge escalator with daddy after enjoying a meal at the conference center! Brooks was so excited to watch daddy approach him as the escalator descended.

Some other noteworthy highlights from the conference include:

1. A great conversation with Kathleen Nelson from our sister church in El Paso, TX.

2. A great conversation with Dawn Bourland who lives in Des Moines with us, but I don't regularily get to pick her brain or see her every day.

3. Lots of conversation and meals shared with dear friends from 3 of the Des Moines congregations, and Nikki Hinton from Cedar Rapids.

4. I got to have great quiet times, while sitting on the toilet seat in the bathroom while my boys napped in pure darkness in the room.

5. More meals than usual with daddy! I must add hear that I didn't prepare or clean up after a meal for almost 4 days.

6. Going to look at the Eagle that hung from the ceiling of the conference center multiple times per day. A few times, we even raced up the stairs to see it, and then caught our breath during an escalator ride back down.

7. Lots and Lots of elevator rides.

8. Ordering Pizza the first night was fun for me because I haven't had delivery pizza in a long time. I can't even tell you the last time. It has been so long, that I even had to google what you were supposed to tip the delivery man!

9. This would be a good place to confess that I took a nap everyday! That was delightful!

10. Watching the boys enjoy their new christmas toys was fun to see. Plus I think having these new and novel toys helped them keep their attention and remain quiet for at least one session per day.

11. Luke spoke at one of the mini seminars! I am a proud wife! I mean I don't want to brag, but I have a remarkable and wise husband! He and Dan Rude got to share with several young people about dating. That brought back many delightful memories from our dating days from just 5 years ago! He was a great leader and a very disciplined man during this time.

12. The ride there. I always enjoy uninterupted time to talk with Luke!

13. And I will close with one of my favorite moments from the whole conference. The first night Mark Darling always leads the crowd in several 10 minutes prayer sessions on different topics. One of the sessions he asked all of the families to stand up. So Luke, Leighton, McCabe, Brooks, and I stood up. He proceeded to talk about how the next generation that is being raised up in the chruch is in a critical spot because more and more kids who grew up in the church are walking away from Christianity as they grow up and don't hold to a biblical worldview anymore. He asked all of the other people there so stand up and go surround one of the young families that was already standing and pray over them. We had 5 guys from Purdue, Indiana whom we had never met, and Kayla Poucher from our WestTown congregation, surround us and pray over us. They prayed for the salvation of each of our children by name, they prayed for Luke and I as parents to endure in training them up in the way they should go, they prayed for our relationships with one another, with our church body, and with God. It was amazing to be a part of that and to be the recipient of prayers that I long for. I'm so thankful for those prayers. There could never be enough of them.

Overall, it was an encouraging conference and a great trip to Nebraska!