Speaking Snapshots in February

 

This month I had the joy of speaking to two different groups, and I wanted to give you a glimpse into my adventures!

            A few weeks ago I received a request to speak at an event near home, and I was so excited that I had the opening on my calendar to say yes! The organization that reached out was Loving Shepherd Ministries, and they are located in Bluffton, where we used to live! One of the ladies who works there had heard me speak at the Chosen conference last summer and shared my name with them. I always appreciate when people have the confidence in my work to share my name with others, so I was grateful for her kindness!

            The organizers told me they were putting together an “Evening of Encouragement” to bless local individuals. Every year they target a different demographic, and this year, they were making it an evening for women. They chose a topic from my website and told me they were also bringing in The Charcuterie Shop to do a grazing table. (Fun fact: I had sampled The Charcuterie Shop’s work last summer at Girls’ Night Out at the Flower Patch. She did charcuterie cups there, and they were so good. I follow her on Instagram and had seen her beautiful tables, but I had never seen one in person. I was excited!)

            LSM did a beautiful job decorating their event space for the evening. It was a very full house, so they had tables in every corner they could possibly use!

            And that charcuterie table did not disappoint! WOW. I can’t even explain how amazing it was in person. I could have studied it forever and still not found all the little intricacies of it. Ryan said she told him it took her five hours to prep the food and four hours to set it up. I believe it! An absolute artistic masterpiece.

            Since this event took place near home, I actually knew some people there! I had friends from church in attendance, our neighbor from our old house, and some other friends were there too! (And I didn’t even get pictures with all of them!)

            I shared on the topic of A Simplified Life, and before the night began, I had several of the women tell me they needed that topic right now. I assured them I’m not an expert, but I hope they were able to take away something meaningful!

            (Shoutout to Ryan for running my slides and taking pictures for me – and to my friend, Pam Agler, for taking some front row pictures and sharing them with me!)

            It was the sweetest night that I thoroughly enjoyed. I had been looking forward to it for weeks and praying over the hearts of the women who came, and I’m so glad it turned out to be a great night for them!

            Then yesterday I was back in church for another chance to share a message. I told you last month that a church near us has invited me to share periodically throughout this year. I was there the third week of January and back again this past Sunday. My message title was “At Home in His Love.”

            The people at this church are so kind and welcoming and I really looked forward to being with them again. Ryan led the music and read the Scripture passage for me.

            We even found ourselves invited to a fellowship night they’re having soon, so that was a sweet bonus!

            This wraps up my official speaking for February! (I’m visiting a local Bible study that is working its way through one of my books, but I’m not an official speaker to the group.) I have three events on the schedule for March, so now I’ll be diving deeply into preparation for those days!