Conference at Graeagle

We're home! We had such a wonderful time at conference this week! It all started Sunday when we tried to leave around 3:30 pm to find out that our battery was dead! I had plugged in our cooler (in the van) before church so that it would be cool for us to put food in by the time we were ready to go. Combined with the boys leaving the doors open the whole time we were trying to pack, we ended up with a dead battery when we were finally ready to leave. So we ended up having two board members come over to help us jump the van. So we didn't really get to leave until around 5 pm. We drove to Redding and camped just outside of Redding on Sunday night (the little town was actually called Whiskeytown). We got there too late to have a fire and roast marshmallows like we had promised the boys. By the time we set up the tent and got everyone ready for bed, it was around 9:30pm. So we let the boys roast marshmallows the next morning after breakfast. Monday morning, we left Redding around 10:30 am, and arrived in Graeagle around 3:00pm. Lots of driving - however, the drive was beautiful. I love the rugged beauty of the Sierras! We stayed in a hotel for the week (as did many other VM families), but instead of a hotel room, we had a little cabin. That was wonderful! We didn't have to worry about waking up those underneath us, etc. Tuesday after the morning session, Jeremy had the opportunity to shoot a round of golf. He loved it, and said the course was amazing! They normally charge $130 per round, but allowed those that wanted to golf, to do so for free! What a blessing! The kids and I spent the afternoon in the green grassy area behind our cabin with the wives and kids of 3 other VM pastors. We had a great time of fellowship while we sat around and watched the kids play. Wednesday after lunch, our family drove into Portola and looked around downtown (very cute and quaint) before driving back to the cabin and letting the older boys go swimming in the pool. We decided to leave Thursday afternoon and miss the barbeque so that we could get home and get things ready for Jeremy's mom and sister coming on Saturday. We're so glad we did. The grass really needed to be mowed, the house cleaned, the van emptied, and the boys' hair all needed cutting.
Back to conference, the messages were great! Instead of having a speaker come in, it was set up so a different VM pastor spoke at all of the sessions about different topics. One was about vision in ministry (which I also felt could be applied to vision in family as well), pain in ministry, longevity in ministry. Jeremy and I both really enjoyed the speaking, and it was really neat to hear the difference in preaching styles. We are already looking forward to next year's conference - if they are able to get one together. We appreciate all of your prayers for our safety and refreshing. God answered mightily!