Women of Faith With Mary Lou

My dear friend Mary Lou treated me to the Women of Faith conference in Atlanta a few weeks ago, and we stayed in an awesome hotel downtown. Here is Mary Lou lounging on her bed.

This was our view from the balcony. Wowsers!

That night we did some of our own in-room spa treatments, and I found some mud masks from the Dead Sea in Israel and brought them along. We had so much fun!

My cousin, Robin, and Aunt Deanie and some of their family went to the same conference in San Jose a month or two ago, and when I read about it, I was so excited to go. Of course, my camera battery was low at the actual conference, so I didn't take any pictures in the venue. However, you can read about it here at my cousin Robin's blog.

One of the many highlights for me was seeing my favorite musician, Steven Curtis Chapman. My Aunt Deanie introduced me to him when I was in the 4th grade, and I've loved him ever since. I decided then, at age 10, that I wanted "I Will Be Here" sung in my wedding, and it was! His concert was absolutely amazing. I pretty much cried through the whole thing. :) His daughter, Maria, was killed in a tragic accident about a year ago. She was adopted from China and had just turned six years old. He wrote a new song about her, and it brings me to tears every time. It's called "Heaven Is the Face," and you can watch/listen to it here. Holy moly. Listen right now.