He Spoke at She Speaks

I'm back and She Speaks was awesome. As I promised in my last post, today's post is going to be all about how God spoke at She Speaks to me.

For about a month before the conference I began to pray and fast. One word kept coming to the forefront of my time with God- Connections. My prayers centered on making connections at the conference. Connections for me, connections through me, connections with me, just simply asking God to make me aware of how my being at the conference would make a difference in this thing I'm doing called ministry. You see the last few months I had spent a lot of time writing a proposal to be pitched at She Speaks. Because I was somewhat clueless about the process, the isolation I felt while writing left me feeling lonely. And I am a people person!! And one of my most favorite things to do in life is to make connections! So here is a list; a long list of how my sweet Jesus showed off at She Speaks. Enjoy.

• Friday night I'm on the elevator by myself. It stops and on walks two ladies and I realize one of them (saw her name tag) was a friend of a friend from home. Earlier this summer my friend had asked me to keep an eye out for her. This may seem insignificant to you, but in a hotel filled to capacity, 600 women attending the conference, hotel staff and the size of the hotel…there's no way it is a coincidence that we found each other.
  
• Saturday morning we go down for breakfast and it's a crazy room packed full of women. As we begin to look for a place to sit, I spot someone I think I know. You have to understand that I've not had coffee and I don't see well in low lighting. So I throw caution to the wind, and call out her name (o-k… I yelled!) And sure enough, LJ was in the house…So much fun to see Lisa there. Again, only God can pull that off in a room so full and crazy.
  
• Saturday morning-I had to leave a few minutes before the end of a main session for a publisher appointment. The speaker was Wendy Pope and I so wanted to meet her. I have a Gather and Grow group and she is the coordinator. As I rounded a corner on my way to the appointment, Wendy comes out of the session. We met, we hugged and she encouraged me for my appointment like crazy! After my appointment, I'm headed down the hall way for my next session in a daze! Who's in the hallway? Wendy Pope and Amy Carroll. They were so excited for me when I shared that the publisher liked my proposal and took it!
  
• A publisher taking the proposal was huge for me. I've never written anything for a proposal and could not believe how gracious God was to me. This little girl from the middle of nowhere with no formal training was just riding on the wings of my sweet Jesus.
  
• I had a second publisher appointment that night. As I sat waiting, a beautiful young woman came and sat next to me. We began discussing our proposals and I was able to tell her about someone I met earlier this year who is looking for exactly what she was doing! Oh sweet Jesus, we ran out of time before we could exchange names. It was my time to go in and I quickly tossed my business card to her and said CONTACT ME! That sounds rude, but I know this was God. Her proposal is so unique and wanted by my contact. This was probably the sweetest moment I had at She Speaks, because it had nothing to do with me or my calling. Just connecting someone else to help them.
  
• My second publisher meeting was late in the afternoon and the meeting went well, but the outcome was a defining moment for me. They really liked my proposal, said it was solid, but they couldn't take it. They had just contracted someone else with a similar project. The meeting ended on a great note of encouragement, but I truly wanted to cry or throw up! When I went outside my sweet friend Dorilee was waiting for me. She sat with me and we talked for a second and then God opened my eyes to the possibilities. I felt the Holy Spirit began to say to my heart, if they're publishing something similar then there must be a need. Someone else will want it too. So I walked up to Sheila (she was coordinating the appointments) and asked her if she thought there was anyone left who would want to look at my proposal. She very graciously asked all the publishers and agents there. She was able to get me in to see one more agency. THEY TOOK MY PROPOSAL TOO! God was showing off in a big way and I could barely contain my emotions.
  
• Later that night I was standing in line to meet Jennifer Rothschild (oh my word) with some of my friends. We starting talking to the ladies behind us and one of them had self-published their book through an agency that we wanted to know more about. So while we stood in line, she shared her experience, gave us advice, answered our questions and just helped us understand that process so much better.
  
• One of my friends wanted to meet and speak with Van Walton. I knew what she looked like, but had not been able to find her. Sunday morning we are on a packed elevator headed down for breakfast. The elevator stopped on another floor and I hear the lady in the front say "Come on Van, we'll make room!" I peek around the corner and say to my friend, that's Van, that's her…go get her! So when the elevator stopped, she and Van connected. Van was so gracious and spent time answering her questions and giving her advice.
  

  
   

  There were 599 other women in attendance at She Speaks. This is only a small bit of what God did this past weekend…just my experience. But for what it's worth, there is no other place I would have rather been or no other way I would have wanted to spend the money. If you were there, I would love to hear about your experience. If you've never been, mark it on your calendar for 2010…July 30-August 1.