Speaking Engagements

Report Back: Seek to Serve Conference

What a pleasure it was to fellowship with the wonderful women of Opelousas, Louisiana, at First Baptist Church’s Seek to Serve women’s conference. Believe it or not, after nearly seven years of traveling and speaking at women’s events, this was my very first event in my home state of Louisiana. It was quite surreal to teach a conference while still sleeping in my own bed at night!

A nice, early morning drive put me at FBCO in plenty of time to meet some of the ladies and get settled before the conference started.

Check in time was warm and welcoming, thanks to April, our conference organizer, and her team.

A hostess basket (complete with that beautiful flour sack towel in the background) was an unbelievably kind gesture since I was only there for the day!

The fall-themed decor was just charming…

The conference team offered up a tempting spread, and breakfast was a hit!

Conference time!

We all moved into the sanctuary, and Amy and Lance led us in some worship songs.

Our first session was God’s Design for Biblical Womanhood. Womanhood is special and unique. Womanhood โ€“ not a cheap knockoff of manhood โ€“ is something God values andย wantsย women to display in the world, the church, and the family.

After session 1, we took a quick break, then kicked off the next portion of the conference with some fun door prizes.

Walking in Biblical Womanhood was our second teaching session of the day. Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to change the diapers. Godโ€™s plan for most of us is to change the diapers, get the groceries, make the meals. We fight back against feminism by standing โ€“ right where God has placed us โ€“ and living each day faithfully.

All of that teaching and learning can make a girl hungry, and in the heart of Cajun country, that means crawfish and chicken pasta for lunch. (I would have taken a picture of mine, but I had already inhaled it by the time I thought about it. You don’t mess with Cajun women when it comes to food!)

Adorable (and tasty!) pumpkin cookies and cake balls!

We finished out the day with a Q&A session with lots of insightful questions from these sharp and eager ladies. One of the topics we discussed was the need for older women to disciple and train younger women, as we’re commanded to in Titus 2:3-5. It was such a joy to have a few older women step up – on the spot! – and offer their wisdom and time to disciple some of the younger women!

We wrapped things up with more door prizes and worship…

…and a fun time of photos and fellowship!

It was such a wonderful weekend with the ladies of First Baptist, Opelousas. Thanks so much to April and Pastor Joel and his wife, Angie, for making me feel right at home. Thanks also to all the men and women of FBC who worked so hard to host a fantastic conference, and extended such warm hospitality to me. If you’re ever in the area and need a good church to visit, make plans to spend the Lord’s Day with these wonderful brothers and sisters.


If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a womenโ€™s event, Iโ€™d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information, or to find an upcoming event near you!


Photo Credits

Many thanks to April and other conference attendees who took or shared many of the photos above. You may assume that if I’m in the picture or if it’s a good quality photo that I didn’t take it. The remaining photos were shot by me.

Speaking Engagements

OHCW Conference LIVE AUDIENCE Sneak Preview!

(For info. on the Baton Rouge event,
please keep scrolling down until you get to it.)

Ladies, did you enjoy last year’s first annual Open Hearts in a Closed World online conference? (If you missed it, you can still catch all of the sessions here.)

Well, the conference is back again this summer, July 12-16, and all of us at OHCW hope you’ll join us! The conference sessions will air each day on the AGTV app, YouTube, IGTV (Instagram), Facebook, and this year, here on the blog.

The conference is totally free and you don’t have to register or sign up. Just tune in each day at your convenience and watch the teaching sessions. You could even gather up some friends and watch together!

The theme of this year’s conference is Reverence in Radical Times, and our focal passage will be Titus 2:3-5:

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Titus 2:3-5

2021 Speakers:

2021 Teaching Schedule:

Music by:

For more details on the conference, follow Open Hearts in a Closed World on Instagram, or join the OHCW Facebook group and ask the conference organizers directly.

All teaching sessions for the conference will be pre-recorded, so if you live in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area (or if you can get here!) we’ve got a special “sneak preview” treat for you!

You are cordially invited to be part of the
LIVE AUDIENCE
for the taping of my teaching session:

Teach What Is Good:
Discipling Younger Women
in the 21st Century

Tuesday, April 27, 2021
7:00-8:00 p.m.
Woodlawn Baptist Church
5805 Jones Creek Rd.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
FREE admission ~ Women only
No childcare will be provided
Please comment below or contact me
if you’re coming so we can get a head count.

As a special treat just for our Baton Rouge audience, local hymnist,
Jillian McNeely will be providing our pre-session worship music.

The teaching session is relevant to both the “older women” and the “younger women” of Titus 2, so gather up a group of friends and make it a girls’ night out! You might even want to plan to go out to eat afterwards at New York Pizza and Pasta, Outback, City Cafe, or another nearby restaurant. And if your husband wants to drop you off and take the kids for a bite, McDonald’s, Burger King, Cane’s, and Taco Bell are all just down the street.

Masks are not required, though you’re welcome to bring one from home and wear it if you like. We anticipate that there will be plenty of space for those who would like to social distance (also not required).

If you have any specific questions about Woodlawn’s facilities or location, you may contact the church directly.

Come on out and let’s look at what it means to be Titus 2 women!

Uncategorized

OHCW Conference LIVE AUDIENCE Sneak Preview!

Ladies, did you enjoy last year’s first annual Open Hearts in a Closed World online conference? (If you missed it, you can still catch all of the sessions here.)

Well, the conference is back again this summer, July 12-16, and all of us at OHCW hope you’ll join us! The conference sessions will air each day on the AGTV app, YouTube, IGTV (Instagram), Facebook, and this year, here on the blog.

The conference is totally free and you don’t have to register or sign up. Just tune in each day at your convenience and watch the teaching sessions. You could even gather up some friends and watch together!

The theme of this year’s conference is Reverence in Radical Times, and our focal passage will be Titus 2:3-5:

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Titus 2:3-5

2021 Speakers:

2021 Teaching Schedule:

Music by:

For more details on the conference, follow Open Hearts in a Closed World on Instagram, or join the OHCW Facebook group and ask the conference organizers directly.

All teaching sessions for the conference will be pre-recorded, so if you live in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area (or if you can get here!) we’ve got a special “sneak preview” treat for you!

You are cordially invited to be part of the
LIVE AUDIENCE
for the taping of my teaching session:

Teach What Is Good:
Discipling Younger Women
in the 21st Century

Tuesday, April 27, 2021
7:00-8:00 p.m.
Woodlawn Baptist Church
5805 Jones Creek Rd.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
FREE admission ~ Women only
No childcare will be provided

It’s a session relevant to both the “older women” and the “younger women” of Titus 2, so gather up a group of friends and make it a girls’ night out! You might even want to plan to go out to eat afterwards at New York Pizza and Pasta, Outback, City Cafe, or another nearby restaurant. And if your husband wants to drop you off and take the kids for a bite, McDonald’s, Burger King, Cane’s, and Taco Bell are all just down the street.

Masks are not required, though you’re welcome to bring one from home and wear it if you like. We anticipate that there will be plenty of space for those who would like to social distance (also not required).

If you have any specific questions about Woodlawn’s facilities or location, you may contact the church directly.

Come on out and let’s look at what it means to be Titus 2 women!