Mela Kamin – 4:10 Ministries

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Here are some soundbites that spoke to me at Women of Faith – Imagine … little bits of wisdom that hit me in the gut or heart that I knew would speak to someone else. Thankful for the tweetdeck app, so I could hear it, record it & share it at the moment it affected me, rather than having to think back once the session had closed or the speaker walked off stage.
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Honestly, a few times, I was so engrossed in and moved by the story I couldn’t tweet at all (thank you, Lisa Harper). And, when I was listening to Luci Swindoll, I didn’t tweet because 1) she’s so amazing to listen to and 2) she was speaking about living in the moment and not texting as life passes you by. I thought it only apropos to put away my phone for her talk.
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FRIDAY
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SHEILA WALSH used the story of the woman struggling for 12 years with illness, and contrasted it with the healing of Jairus’ daughter to show us that no person is lesser or greater than another in God’s eyes. She beautifully emphasized our fears of comparison, of not mattering, and wiped them away with His comforting Words.
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DR. HENRY CLOUD is brilliant and funny. I could have listened to him for hours – so much insight and intelligence, but in a totally non-threatening, this-is-how-it-is way. I wanted to hear more and bought his book Necessary Endings. I’m looking forward to digging in.
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Sidenote: Sheila & Dr. Cloud had a Q&A session and during that, Mary Graham read off some tweets. She started with mine and I woo-hoo’ed as loud as I could. FUN!
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SATURDAY
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SHEILA WALSH pointed us to the Great Shepherd who will always go out to find the lost, bad, bummer lambs and bring them home to Him.
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LISA HARPER made us laugh and cry with her aptly-placed humor and rich knowledge of the Word of God. Her story of His great love for us is one I will remember and hold onto. It hit me in a deep place and it nudged me to talk about some things I may have kept hidden.
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NICOLE JOHNSON shared her raw, shattered dreams and how God put them back together into something beautiful. Her honesty shone through.
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ANGIE SMITH used her experience in loss to demonstrate God’s faithfulness and power in the storms of life, pointing us to the One who holds us close, even when we’re drowning.
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LUCI SWINDOLL told us not to miss life – to live every single moment with joy and celebration … to do something because “no one told us we couldn’t.”
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Imagine starting your day being led in worship by the astounding Allison Abbott, Janice Gaines, Laura Cooksey & Jenifer Thigpen.
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Imagine being joined in worship by an arena full of fellow sisters in Christ.
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Imagine hearing stories of God’s faithfulness, comfort, power & love from speakers like
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Sheila Walsh, Nicole Johnson and Angie Smith.
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I’m thrilled to have been able to introduce my Mom to Angie and hear her speak again. I knew her story from her blog and from meeting her at Relevant last year, but was incredibly moved, as was everyone I talked to. I’m reading her most recent book What Women Fear and am exceedingly glad she worked through her fear to bless others through the sharing of her story.
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Imagine unexpected moments like a certain speaker’s little boy who had, not only moves like Jagger, but Michael Jackson too.
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Imagine taking the shackles off and dancing with beautiful, soulful sisters, Tina & Erica of MaryMary.
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Imagine hearing It is Well with My Soul like you’ve never heard it before via the powerful Natalie Grant.
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Imagine laughing til your face hurts, and minutes later, trying to swallow and sniff away tears while Lisa Harper demonstrates God’s great love for us.
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and Imagine sharing those moments and more with your Mom (or sister, or best friend, or Bible study group).
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Imagine God taking all Women of Faith could dream up, plan and prepare for and doing more with it than we could ever ask or imagine!
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Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

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Full disclosure: I received two complimentary tickets to Women of Faith through my affiliation with Booksneeze, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers. THANK YOU! I was not compensated in any other way for my posts and all opinions are my own.
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I’ll write a post soon, with a twitter feed recap. My Tweetdeck app provided an easy way for me to take bite-sized notes I wanted to share with you later.

It’s become a tradition for my Mom and me to attend Women of Faith together. Spending this time with my Mom has been so sweet over the years – we feel blessed to be at each event and we look forward to it every Fall.
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We laugh, cry, make new friends and have terrific prayer and discussion. One year, I sang & talked so much, by the 2nd day, I had completely lost my voice. We’ve been continually encouraged by the speakers, uplifted and moved by the worship and drama teams and have laughed ourselves silly with the antics of Anita Renfroe and Lisa Harper. One of our favorites is Patsy Clairmont, the pint-sized powerhouse whose stories always pack a larger-than-life punch.
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We show up and God always exceeds any expectations we may have.
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Here’s our WoF history:
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2006 Contagious Joy My first Women of Faith! I was invited by my Aunt (to my left), who is like a Godmother to me. My Mom (on my right) joined me and we started making it a priority to attend WoF together. We saw Avalon and I remember being blown away by the song “Everything to Me.”
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2007 Amazing Freedom This year, two additional Aunts came along with us (and I lost my voice). We met up with my cousin too.
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2008 Infinite Grace We invited two of my friends and we had a wonderful time. I remember Nichole Nordeman performing with her signature voice, accompanied simply by her keyboard and a guitar player. I knew I wanted to write stories through music like she does.
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My Mom & I with the unforgettable Nicole C. Mullen
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2009 A Grand New Day We were able to donate a ticket to a local recovery ministry, Healing House, so that one of the residents could attend with us. It was also a few months after my CD released and a huge group of friends showed their support by wearing I Pray shirts. We gave away shirts & CDs. I tweeted Mary Graham during the event and she invited me down to meet her. What a gracious woman of faith she is! Watching the conference solidified that speaking and singing is the area in which God is calling me to step out and use my gifts. I felt my dream grow during that conference.
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I also heard Rich Stearns of World Vision speak and when we later met, I told him how much Greg & I had been wanting to sponsor a child. He made me promise I’d have another conversation about it and pray. That evening, Greg & I added two sponsored children to our family! Simon and Duncan from Zambia are both 8. We just received a letter from Simon who is dreaming of becoming a doctor. What an incredible gift not only to help their families with basic needs, but to get to pray on behalf of them. That decision is by far, one of the best we’ve made. I’m so glad my experience at Women of Faith gave us that nudge. Through its partnership with Women of Faith, some 150,000 + kids have been sponsored through World Vision!
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2010 Over the Top Greg & I were sponsors of the Relevant Conference and I chose to miss Women of Faith for the first time in many years to go to Pennsylvania. I had a wonderful time at Relevant and highly recommend that conference as well. Plus, I got to sing with Todd Smith of Selah.
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But, I did miss being at WoF – there’s so much packed into the 2 days and I never cease to leave there moved, convicted, reinvigorated and excited to live out my faith. Plus, my Mom and I didn’t have our usual WoF time together.
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2011 Imagine I’m thrilled to be going back with my Mom and this time, I will be blogging and tweeting throughout the event! So excited …
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Oh, and I’ll be “reunited” with Todd Smith’s talented wife Angie, as she’s one of the featured speakers – hooray!
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Have you or are you going to a Women of Faith event in your area? If you’re still deciding, I wouldn’t hesitate to nudge you into going. I can’t tell you how you’ll be blessed, but I can be sure you will.
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God’s Word, grace and love flood the arena and there’s something spectacular about praising the name of Jesus with thousands of others.