Women of Faith Denver. Thanks, BookSneeze!

Wow, has it been two weeks already?!? Where does the time go?

Anyway, two weeks ago, a friend and I had the privilege of going to Women of Faith Over The Top conference at the Pepsi Center in Denver, thanks to BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson Publishing. It was my first time, and I really enjoyed it!

We got to hear from so many different people in such a short time! Starting on Friday, we heard from Patsy Clairmont and Andy Andrews, then we snuck in a quick trip to Ikea and had Swedish meatballs for dinner before the evening session and Andy Andrews again, Brenda Warner, and ending with a concert from Mandisa. (Patsy Clairmont)

We made it to our hotel at 11, slept quick, and checked out by 7:45 to make it back for the first session on Saturday (after stopping for coffee and yummy breakfast sandwiches from Panera, of course). We heard from Lisa Whelchel, Patsy Clairmont, Karen Kingsbury, Sandi Patty, and Marilyn Meberg. Not to mention a concert from Amy Grant and great worship and drama from the Women of Faith team.

(Amy Grant)

There was also several presentations from World Vision about sponsoring a child; man, I’m glad we already do, because I would have walked out of there sponsoring one if we didn’t! (And that wouldn’t be a bad thing…)

Overall, I left feeling very encouraged. There were a ton of stories told, each with a different point to apply to my life. I was very glad that Patsy Clairmont did a recap at the very end, because I don’t know that I would have remembered anything.

The only part that I was disappointed with was the talks by Andy Andrews. I’ve reviewed two of his books through BookSneeze, and was not really impressed with either of them. I get a better idea why now; it really seemed like he was preaching prosperity gospel, which I do not agree with. at. all. He left out the most important parts of our story, God, and focused on effort and works and the blessings that God can provide. That said, though, everyone else told great stories of what God had truly done for them during hard times and good ones. I especially enjoyed the stories from Brenda Warner and Lisa Whelchel. Both of them are excellent speakers, and I think I’m going to get my hands on Lisa’s new book, Friendship for Grownups.

Would I go again? Probably. Because my church offers conferences every year, it’s a bit hard for me to justify the cost. I did definitely enjoy it, I just really have to think and pray about it before committing my time and resources, especially since next year at this time, I’ll have a 6 month old baby!

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received tickets free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”