We had good expectations for the conference, none of us had been before, but our expectations were surpassed.  Several thousand women, mostly from the eastern states, some from Puerto Rico and Canada, assembled together to support each other and strengthen their Christian faith, it was, to say the least, awesome !

  The music and dance were superb,  combinations of rock, gospel and contemporary, all done with emotion and praise to God -- we all sang and clapped to the beat, large overhead screens illuminated the words (and images from the arena's center stage) and the sound system was exclamatory (for lack of a better word)  all worthy of a modern day concert

   Comical skits were presented depicting trials and tribulations of every day life, expertly done by Nicole Johnson

   The speakers, in like, professional comedians in their own right,  made us laugh and cry, telling their own tragic life stories, culminating in the belief that things can change for the good with Jesus Christ's intervention and acceptance in our lives--  suicide attempts, addictions, loss of loved ones, and agoraphobia are some of the afflictions these women had endured

   We all laughed together, cried together, bumped into each other in the crowded hallways, balanced our box lunches on our laps, checked out the CD's, books, T shirts and whatever paraphernalia that caught our eye, and hugged and smiled if we were lucky enough to run into someone we knew from another group

   When we left Friday it was raining, it rained all night and was still raining Saturday morning on our way to the arena from our hotel, traffic was monumental but our bus driver was patient and expertly handled whatever presented itself on the highway,  nothing dampened our spirits, upon entering the arena we were greeted with encouragement and praise from fathers, sons, brothers and husbands of  a "woman of faith"

    On leaving the arena Saturday afternoon, the weather had cleared, the sun was shining and it was a glorious afternoon,  certainly a heavenly implication that good things will come

Women of Faith participants,  9/17/04