Just got back from a weekend in Orlando at TGC Women's Conference for 2012. Here's a few notes and highlights from our time:
We left from the church parking lot on Friday morning around 9 am. There were 8 of us and 2 cars. I drove with Emily, who is the wife of our pastor. In the car with us was Christina and Denise. The other car was driven by Brittany and she had Holly, Karen, and Rose. Some of these people I knew well, like Brittany and Karen. Some I knew a little, like Christina and Rose. Some I hadn't had much dealings with, like Emily, Holly, and Denise.
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| Ladies ready to leap into action |
The conference had several speakers, only one of whom I had heard of before. That was John Piper. He spoke at the pre-conference events on Friday afternoon and then again on Saturday. He waves his arms a lot when he talks. He is passionate and at times funny. He is a proponent of what he calls Christian Hedonism. He says that if we are not finding joy in knowing Jesus, then we are dishonoring him and basically not getting it. He says that God is most glorified when we are satisfied in him. We all wanted to make sure we got to the conference on time so that we would not miss John Piper's pre-conference lecture.
The first pre-conference speaker however was Tim Keller and he talked about marriage. I am not married but what he said was so sensible and so smart. On Saturday morning, we heard from Paige Benton Brown, a tall blonde gal with a Southern accent who spoke on the story of the temple to God that Solomon built. She was energetic and told funny stories to illustrate her points. All of the speakers were good and all of them were different in style, some loud and in your face and some quietly drawing you in, some giving commentary and explanation on a verse by verse basis, some just summarizing and quickly moving on to the big picture and application. On Saturday night, Nancy Leigh DeMoss spoke on the transfiguration of Jesus from Matthew 17. It was the last event on that night of the conference. By the time she finished her emotional exposition, almost all of us were in tears. We were all very moved.
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| We took copious notes during each session |
On Saturday we had 3 workshops back to back. I had registered back in December and had no idea which ones to sign up for. Now, 6 months later, I couldn't even remember what workshops I had signed up for. Luckily when I registered they had my workshop numbers printed our lanyard name tags/passes. The first one was on being single. I thought this might be a good idea. I loved the leader, an Aussie named Jenny Salt who is probably around 50 and has never been married. She also spoke later at the conference to the entire group. She said quite a few humorous things and attempted to give some Biblical references to being single. My second workshop was about Islam. It started at 2:30 pm and this is my prime napping time. I was so sleepy and the 2 ladies who spoke were quiet and gentle speakers. I dozed off several times during this workshop. I felt I had not gotten much out of the first 2 workshops and I hoped the 3rd would make up for it. The 3rd workshop was on the book of Ephesians and how we've gotten our calling and are we walking accordingly? The speaker was good, sassy, and kept our attention. However, a door that kept banging and a squalling infant kept me from hearing all of it.
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| Part of the main conference room. The whole room was too enormous to capture in one picture. |
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The event was held at a Hilton. It was very pretty inside. The conference rooms were big and beautiful. There were over 3000 women at this conference. The hotel had 2 places where conferees could purchase food or coffee and they were expensive. I waited for almost 40 minutes to get a latte and a cookie the first day and it cost me almost $8. The coffee place also sold sandwiches but they were expensive too. Outside the main conference room, the hotel set up a little snack and drink stand on the second day. This is where I paid $2.75 for a can of Diet Coke. After the first day of the conference, we went to a Publix and bought muffins, fruits, bagels, coffee, bread, cheese and deli meat. We packed 18 sandwiches in a cooler and brought a giant bag of chips with us, so that we could eat lunch on the cheap. We sat on the floor in a hallway to eat. The first day we had sat on the floor near the lobby to eat lunch. I feel like the hotel or the conference organizers could have had a little more compassion on their attendees and brought in some more reasonably priced food vendors. The bathrooms, however, were spectacularly clean and nice! On the conference room level, they turned all the men's rooms into women's rooms. Halleluia!
We stayed at resort about 2 miles from the hotel. It was decent enough. It was a suite with 2 kitchens, 1 living room, three bedrooms, and three bathrooms. On Saturday night, we ordered some Chinese (it wasn't very good). Since no one brought bathing suits, no one really used the whirlpool tubs to their fullness. However, we swore we would use it somehow. Each evening, we got together in the hotel room to discuss what we had gotten out of the day's event, what we learned, what had touched our hearts, and we prayed for the next day. Saturday night's wrap-up talk was conducted as each of us sat round the edge of the tub with our aching feet in it. After a 13 hour day, it was wonderful.
By Sunday morning, we were all tired. On our way to the conference, the car I was in got lost. We ended up going the wrong way on International Drive and no one's GPS could figure Orlando out. Finally we made it there in time to see the first speaker. Half of us left after the first speaker because we wanted to be able to get some rest before having to go to work tomorrow. Tropical Storm Debby made the drive back windy and rainy. I was happy to get to my own bed. As bad as my bed is, it is still mine and it is better than the fold-out bed I slept on at the resort.
I think we all got a lot out of this conference. I thank all the women I went with. I thank Rose for her willingness to learn, teach, and share. I thank Emily for being able to clear the fog away. I thank Holly for her great attitude. I thank Denise for staying the course despite obstacles.. I thank Christina for both her silliness and her seriousness. I thank Karen for being in the same boat with me on a couple of things. I thank Brittany for being such an encourager, a shoulder to cry on, a great friend, a dependable source of honest advice, and an excellent dancer to boot!
