Shepherd's Conference

....sorry no photos for this post, my camera card reader is down at the moment. :)

--We just got back from a week away at the Shepherd's Conference in Johannesburg. The speakers this year were my previous High School Pastor Ken Ramey with his wife Kelli, and Jerry & Louise Wragg were there as well. It was so amazing to spend time with these two godly couples, and strange to spend time with my previous HS pastor and his wife! Just to think how much I've changed since then...and they were telling us about all the different things that have happened to them in ministry over the last 10 years. The most impactful sermon for me was Jerry Wragg's evening session on Jesus being the vine, and we are the branches. His main point was about how the Lord prunes us for our good, so that we can grow more into His image.

-I also got to meet my nephew Dyllan! It was so strange to hold a 2 month old when Noah is so big now! Noah didn't seem very jealous when I held his cousin....whew! :)

--6 days till we are in the States, I just can't believe it. Does any one have any tips for travelling 17 hours to Wash DC on a plane with a 13 month old? :) The Dr. gave me some sedatives, so hopefully that will help. I can't wait for Resolved, and for Noah to meet his Granny and Grandpa!

--Clint is thinking about studying his Doctorate (DMin) in Expository Preaching at Master's Seminary next year in 2009. It's correspondance, but the degree requires you to fly out to TMS to take classes twice a year for few weeks at a time. Three speakers at the Shepherd's Conference have just graduated with this degree, and spoke about all the amazing things they've learned, and Joel James gave away a copy of the book he wrote for his dissertation on Expository Sermon Preparation. So, we might be living the student life again soon. I'm excited cause I was the secretary for this degree when we lived in the states, and the material is so amazing I often wanted to sit in on the classes myself!

--I've been committed lately to finish the books I start reading, and I'm almost done with reading the book Idol's of the Heart by Elise Fitzpatrick, its so good, and so convicting. I normally read halfway through a book, get somewhat bored, and then move on, only to come back to it later not really remembering what I've learned. But my new resolution is to finish what I start.

Its a super busy week ahead before leaving for the States...so pray for us!