Friday night's session was probably my favorite overall. The night started with more singing from Jim and Melissa Brady. I really can't say enough about how cute these two are together and how much I loved hearing them sing together!! A highlight was them singing "No Wonder They Call Him Our Savior."
The first speaker was Leighann McCoy. She is actually the wife of Melissa's pastor. She spoke on Jesus feeding the 5,000. She said there is a difference in just feeling compassion and having compassion. Jesus HAD compassion on the people and chose to do something about it. She said that we often fail to bring our resources to Jesus because we think they would not be good enough, but God is enough.
Side note: When I got home, I regretted that I didn't purchase one of her books. I started looking at them online and found one that sounded extremely familiar to me. I'm very guilty of buying books on sale and putting them on my shelf to read sometime later when I have time. Well, the reason it sounded familiar is because it was one of those "later" books that had been sitting on my shelf. "Later" became this week. :)
Allison Durham Speer came up next. She sang a couple of songs. She even pulled Kenna West up to sing with her on one that Kenna helped write. I knew Allison could sing, but I had NO IDEA how funny she was! She was hilarious! She was full of great stories about her grandmother, aunt and mother.
Next the Talleys took the stage. They sang several songs from their latest project Test of Time including another one from Kenna West "What You Leave Behind." (Kenna along with fellow writer Sue Smith were there in attendance but neither had a part in the conference.) Lauren spoke and told the story of her black dress. She had struggling with illness for months that caused her to grow in her faith spending time in the Word. The dress was a reminder that God had not forgotten her during a rough time in her life. She tells the full story in her book, Songs in the Night.
The next day started with Keena Cowsert. She has adopted nine teenagers and has been a foster mom to many more. Her talk was focused on worship. Worship should be about what we do every moment of every day. She talked about going through a tough time with one of the teens that led her to read through the Psalms. She talked about what all worship can mean and include.
Alison provided a little comic relief and singing for the morning. Keena said earlier that she was really glad she didn't have to follow Allison. However, Becky Keep did follow Allison. She is the sister to Kim Collingsworth. She and her family have an incredible story.
When Becky's son Jesse was only a few weeks old, doctors discovered he had a rare eye cancer. The condition eventually led to a removal of one eye at age 2. And at age 4, doctors had to remove the second eye to save his life. It was four years of surgeries, doctor's appointments and questions. Becky talked about the struggle of telling her son and explaining everything to a toddler. She explained the grief they experienced as parents over his sight. She brought the room to tears as she recounted all that they had been through. However, she reminded us that God can fix us when He doesn't fix our circumstances. He can take our bitter circumstances and turn them into the sweetest blessings. Jesse was also there. He's 16 now and played and sang for us. It was such an amazing moment!!
The conference ended with Jim calling his mom up to sing a song. He talked about how special moms are and what an influence his mom had on his life. It was pretty special considering I got to spend the weekend with my mom. Then Jim, Melissa, Tim Parton and Allison ended the weekend with "I'll Fly Away!"
We had such a great time this weekend. Melissa Brady did a fabulous job of putting it all together. This was the second conference they have done, and they were starting to look at next year already. I definitely want to make plans to go back!
Alison provided a little comic relief and singing for the morning. Keena said earlier that she was really glad she didn't have to follow Allison. However, Becky Keep did follow Allison. She is the sister to Kim Collingsworth. She and her family have an incredible story.
When Becky's son Jesse was only a few weeks old, doctors discovered he had a rare eye cancer. The condition eventually led to a removal of one eye at age 2. And at age 4, doctors had to remove the second eye to save his life. It was four years of surgeries, doctor's appointments and questions. Becky talked about the struggle of telling her son and explaining everything to a toddler. She explained the grief they experienced as parents over his sight. She brought the room to tears as she recounted all that they had been through. However, she reminded us that God can fix us when He doesn't fix our circumstances. He can take our bitter circumstances and turn them into the sweetest blessings. Jesse was also there. He's 16 now and played and sang for us. It was such an amazing moment!!
The conference ended with Jim calling his mom up to sing a song. He talked about how special moms are and what an influence his mom had on his life. It was pretty special considering I got to spend the weekend with my mom. Then Jim, Melissa, Tim Parton and Allison ended the weekend with "I'll Fly Away!"
We had such a great time this weekend. Melissa Brady did a fabulous job of putting it all together. This was the second conference they have done, and they were starting to look at next year already. I definitely want to make plans to go back!
This sounds like such a wonderful time! So thankful you could attend. God is so faithful to give us just what we need right when we need it. I couldn't be there, but it was great to have this firsthand account of all that went on. I really enjoy your blog. Feel free to stop by and visit mine sometime, if you'd like. :)
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