I absolutely love our church’s women’s conference! Every year I hear from God, am prompted to do something / make a change and I refer to what I learned all year long. It’s incredible and I love every single moment of it.
I registered later than most so all the locations in my area were sold out. The nearest one was an hour away in Montgomery, but my sister-in-law, Amberlyn, works at that campus so I still signed up and was excited to get away and visit a new campus. My mother-in-law, Michelle, was able to register for that campus as well so we carpooled.
When we arrived, immediately we were welcomed by Dream Teamers and were handed our goodie bags (complete with bracelet, mints, notebook + pen labeled with this year’s conference theme) and went to get our seats.
The first session was from Lisa Bevere. She did an amazing job setting the tone for the conference by talking about how we can live knowing that we are without rival in the heart of God.
You are not replaceable!
Comparison is a weight, not a crown.
You will never know who you are until you know whose you are.
You can’t expect something from your children that you don’t model / believe yourself.
Following her teaching was the after party (whoop whoop!) where we had a nacho bar, chocolate covered popcorn and a comedian, Anjelah Johnson. She was hysterical and I loved her routine!
We got to bed late, but without a 5 month old to wake me up, I actually got a full night rest.
I woke up excited and expectant for what the day held, so I quickly got ready and Michelle and I headed out for day #2.
Amberlyn was awesome and made Michelle and I some hot chocolate – yum!
The following message was from Dawnchere Wilkerson was titled “Lost Letters” stemming from 2 Corinthians 3:2, “Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it…”
God’s Word is a letter to you, but your life is a letter to the world.
The content we consume is the content we create.
The biggest attack on your life could just be distraction.
When you learn to be content, then you will create great content.
Our life is written to give full credit to the name of Jesus.
God has crowned you with value!
Immediately after, we had a legend, Darlene Zschech speak on dreams.
If you stop dreaming, you stop living.
Ask the Holy Spirit for a dream & ask God for a revelation.
Children are uncluttered, so it is easier for them to dream.
Life can easily make our dreams feel small and impossible, but God says through Him all things are possible.
Have a pen + paper on your nightstand and actively write down what God tells you.
What do you do while you’re waiting for a dream? You worship.
Time is a gift, because if He gave us our dream right when we asked for it, it would crush us.
The purpose of a dream is to glorify God.
After her inspiring message, it was time for the lunch break. We used this opportunity to get our photos in addition to consuming the yummy meal.
^^ this picture pretty much sums up our relationship 😛 ^^
“What do you want to do?” “It doesn’t matter. What would you like to do?” hahaha
Our first session back was Lisa Bevere again, who spoke on truth + love.
We need to live out the truth in love.
Your life is your greatest platform.
Do you want to be popular (definition: common), or do you want to be influential (definition: powerful)?
And finally, to conclude the conference, Dawnchere Wilkerson encouraged us with tips on how we can take what we learned into our everyday lives by exhibiting excellence with her message titled, “Louder than Words.”
Excellence is all about the details.
Each person displays excellence in different ways.
Excellence takes determination.
We do not serve a mediocre God, we serve an excellent God.
Every season of life we are maturing into who God made us to be.
God is building us every day, and when we really understand that, our lifestyle changes, our conversations change, we run our homes differently, pillow talk with our husband is different, etc.
When we don’t pray over ourselves, our families, our friends, etc. we leave room for the enemy to come in and speak lies.
We need to express our need for relationship.
“Conviction” is a spirit led voice that will tell you what needs to stay in your life and what needs to go.
The best way you can live out excellence is in the way you love. That spirit of excellence is irresistible to the world.
So good.
So powerful.
So life changing.
So needed.
As usual, the ReCreate conference did not disappoint and I am amazed at what God did in my heart throughout the conference. So many new ideas, whispers, thoughts, promises, and encouragement was given to me and I am so excited to start working on all of them.
I’d like to end with this little post I shared on Instagram:
My name, “Sarah,” means “God’s princess,” and as a little girl I had no problem acting like royalty but with a prideful, “I’m better” kind of attitude. Life hit me hard in my teenage years and I was quickly told by the world that I was nothing, worthless, ugly and invaluable. Despite my desire to follow God, I was hurt. My broken heart turned to anger and eventually I turned into a punk 17 & 18 year old girl that wanted nothing to do with God. If you asked Aaron, he’ll tell you that when he met me he could see I had no self-esteem, but he so lovingly took the next few years to nurture my heart, lead me to God and show me that I was loved, priceless, beautiful and valued. The last 5 years has been a journey for me – learning, growing and choosing to walk in who God created me to be and in the calling He wanted me to fulfill.
👑
I say all that to say that I get it. I remember so vividly the piercing pain of feeling unwanted. The ache I felt when I looked in the mirror and saw brokenness beyond desire. But can I tell you that God still desperately wants you and longs to crown you!? God calls us His children, and if He is the King of the universe, that makes you royalty. Doesn’t that change the way you see yourself? You walk with your head up, you talk differently, you live like you’re loved. Because sweet friend, you are so, so loved! So crown yourself, know whose you are, and live like you’re loved.