Women of Faith - AWESOME!!

This past Friday and Saturday I had the wonderful privilege of attending a Women of Faith event in Rochester, NY with some friends. The Imagine event was fantastic! I laughed, I cried, I laughed until I cried ..... From the Friday daytime events with Sheila Walsh and Dr. Henry Cloud, through the evening event featuring the humour of Ken Davis, and concluding with Saturday presentations by Natalie Grant, Lisa Harper, Nicole Johnson, Angie Smith, and Luci Swindoll each and every speaker touched me, taught me, showed me a life lived "for real". Music - and commentary - by Mary Mary revved up the atmosphere; the Women of Faith worship team did an excellent job leading all of us in times of praise.

It was refreshing and inspiring to hear the stories of real women - and men - who had faced life with all its challenges and difficulties, and had learned that only in Christ can we live fully, but that in HIM, we can have more than we can ever ask or imagine. None of them claimed to be prefect; most showed that at some time or another they had come through a time of deep discouragement, but .... God was faithful, and by turning to Him, they had come through their trials. I was encouraged and inspired by what I heard, as were the others with me. Each speaker had a different life story, a different message, yet all had something that could be taken "home" and used in my own life. No matter how different our life experiences, we all know the same God, we can all be confident that He is sovereign over all the things He allows in our lives, and we can know that we aren't alone! Not only is our God with us in each and every circumstance, He has given us others to come alongside and encourage us, to be with us in what we are facing - the "other monkeys" in our cages!

This weekend was fantastic, and I would encourage any women who have the opportunity to attend an event to grab that opportunity! I hope to go again next year - and take friends with me.

Tickets to Women of Faith were provided to me at no cost through the BookSneeze program; I was not required to write a positive review of this event, but honestly - I have nothing but "positive" to share!

Book Review: Surprised by Oxford

Surprised by Oxford is the compelling memoir of an unwilling traveler on the road to faith. Carolyn, a self-confessed agnostic, leaves Canada to take a graduate studies scholarship in Romantic literature at Oxford, but finds herself studying a book of a different genre altogether. She is aware of a deep, unmet need within herself, but influenced by her relationship with her earthly father she fights hard against the idea of a loving heavenly Father ready and willing to meet that need. Carolyn's journey is not an easy one, but it is deeply interesting, as one by one her excuses are demolished. As she reads the Bible, applying her scholar's mind, human reasoning gives way to a heart that wants to believe.

The book doesn't end with Carolyn's acceptance of Christ as Saviour; I much enjoyed the remainder of the tale, as Carolyn Weber also addresses what it means to live as a Christian, merging that belief with day to day living in such a way that we indeed become an epistle others can read. Imperfection, rather than being a bar to Christianity, is the means by which God is glorified as He shines through us to those around us. The road to faith continues on until the reality of grace is grasped by the traveler. Great read!

This book was supplied free of charge by Thomas Nelson publishers through www.booksneeze.com. I was not compelled to write a positive review; the opinion expressed is my own.