Declare Conference 2015 theme

The Cooper Hotel & Spa

Me, my sister and friend (my roommates & travel buddies) taking a selfie

Me and my sister – what a blessing to share this weekend with her

Maci and her brother – leading us in worship into the very throne room of heaven! So incredible!!!

We had new amazing swag on our tables every time we came back into the room

The tables were decorated so beautifully – and there were lots butterflies everywhere

My mastermind group – what a joy!

The food was so yummy! (and healthy too)

Yes, of course, there was shopping too. 🙂

We learned so much – from Biblical truths to practical skills for our businesses and ministries.

Lots of opportunities to pray – yeah!

#beautifuldeep

All the amazing speakers and hosts of Declare Conference 2015

If you read my previous post, you know how excited I was to get to attend Declare Conference for the first time. Well, I was not disappointed.

It was an amazingly awesome, sweet time of fellowship with God and with so many of His precious daughters.

It was also inspiring, encouraging, refreshing, convicting, educational, worshipful, joyful, heart-wrenching, beautiful, enlightening, fun and delightful … and every moment was full of God’s grace.

I got SO much from this weekend, that I plan to write a series of blog posts, highlighting some of the amazing women I met and nuggets of truth that I gleaned. But, I wanted to start out by giving an overview or summary of the conference. (I think they just call it a “conference” because there is not an adequate word to describe the experience. It was like no other conference I have ever been to.)

First of all, everyone—from the speakers to the sponsors to the attendees— was so sincerely nice and so friendly. I’m an introvert and, although God has delivered me from timidity, I still have a very quiet personality. But never once, the entire weekend did I ever feel ignored or left out or like I was not good enough to be in this crowd. I hope that noone else felt that way either. I tried to get out of my comfort zone and initiate conversations with strangers who soon became friends.

Secondly, the presence of God was so tangible… so sweet, so beautiful! I cannot imagine how many hours of prayer proceeded the conference, but I know it must have been a TON!

Every speaker spoke right to my heart… from the first one to the last. In fact, God spoke so clearly to me through the first speaker… bringing such conviction to my heart, but doing it so sweetly… that as we were walking back to our rooms that night, I told my roommates, “Even if there was nothing else, if tonight was it, it was totally worth it…” worth all the hard work it took to get here… worth every penny… worth every spiritual battle I fought to get here.

But that was NOT all God had for us. There was so much more. I will let these pictures tell the rest of the story.

(photos by Courtney of Coco Paige Photography)