Christian Women’s Conference – Page 6

It was such a pleasure to share with the wonderful women of Greenwich, Ohio, and the surrounding area at The Ripley Church’s Women Thinking Wisely conference. TRC’s conference planning committee worked long and hard to make it a wonderful event that was enjoyed by all.

I landed in Cincinnati Friday afternoon and was whisked away to a charming little cabin by planning committee member, Jennie and her husband Bob.

The Sleepy Owl’s Nest cabin is in Shiloh, Ohio, right in the middle of Amish and Mennonite country. I’m afraid this was the best picture of a horse and buggy I was able to capture in my brief time there!

The other members of the planning committee soon arrived at the cabin, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship around a phenomenal lasagna – one of my favorites!

At the bottom right is a picture of me with Kerri Sheldon of 4 Truth Ministry. Kerri was kind enough to write a guest post for me a few years back, and I highly recommend her book Resolute: An Unwavering Stance on the Truth of God’s Word, which she co-authored with her father, David, and on which her guest post was based. She also put together the awesome hostess bag I was honored with (bottom left) containing local favorites, Amish Country popcorn and Ohio buckeyes, and she hand painted the Ohio Christmas ornament herself! What a talented lady!

I am always amazed at the Providential ways God works through the conferences I speak at. Aside from the teaching and fellowship, sisters from the various churches represented make ministry connections and form friendships, sometimes their churches end up joining together in ministry, and sometimes attendees find the doctrinally sound church home they’ve been searching for.

I was delighted to learn that this was the case for Kerri and her family. They had been looking for a solid church in their area to join, but were unaware of The Ripley Church until Kerri saw on my blog that I would be speaking at a conference there. They started attending, and by the time I got there, Kerri and her mom, Lynn (on the far left in the top left photo) were able to greet me, not only as members of TRC, but also as members of the conference planning committee. What a nifty thing God did!

Saturday morning, it was conference time!

I have a special fondness for little white country churches, and The Ripley Church did not disappoint. Founded in 1851, part of the sanctuary is still the original building.

First up- check in and an energizing breakfast and fellowship time:

Lots of informative and themed materials greeted attendees as we moved into the sanctuary for teaching time:

I love the thought and care that went into these helpful conference info packets. I would never be able to think of all of this. When you’re planning a conference, be sure to harness the brains of those detail-oriented sisters!

Folders included info on 4 Truth Ministry, a Bible study app, a card with a quote from Spurgeon from my session on discernment, a program, a conference evaluation card, a TRC brochure, and an index card for writing down questions for the Q&A session.

Pastor Eric Robinson was so kind to welcome the ladies and open in prayer.

We kicked things off with Discernment 101: Learn to Discern. We talked about what discernment is, and how to use it – identifying false teachers and false doctrine – to the glory of God.

After a brief break, we moved on to session 2, Hooked on a Feeling: Living by God’s Word Instead of Our Emotions. Scripture is our authority as Christians, and we shouldn’t let our feelings lead us around by the nose.

When session 2 was over, it was time for lunch: salad, a choice of hearty, delicious soups, and cake.

Between sessions, I had the luxury of a few moments of quiet relaxation time in Pastor Eric’s office. You can tell a lot about a pastor from his bookshelves, and I could tell – this is my kind of pastor! 😍👏👏👏😍

With full tummies and fuller spirits we returned to teaching with Managing Media – being wise and discerning with news, social media, movies and TV, and other media we consume.

At the end of the day, we closed things out with a stimulating Q&A session. These ladies asked some challenging questions!

It’s always great to see mothers and daughters attending together!

Another oh-so-thoughtful touch to this conference: the planning committee had all of the ladies sign these lovely cards to me. I cherish their kind and encouraging comments.

Once the conference was over, it was time for an early supper (so I could catch an early bedtime for my super early flight home the next day!). One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to sample the local fare.

East of Chicago Pizza got its start right down the road from Greenwich in Willard, Ohio, and is, as you might expect, billed as “the best pizza east of Chicago”. Now, I’ve had authentic Chicago pizza, so I feel safe in saying that if EoC pizza isn’t the best, it’s awfully close. Also delectable were Ballreich’s potato chips, made in nearby Tiffin, Ohio. Lemme tell ya- Ruffles ain’t got nothin’ on these babies.

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. My deepest thanks to Bonnie, who spearheaded the conference, and who, with her husband, Don, picked me up at an unspeakable hour of the morning to drive me to the airport for my flight home. Thanks also to Jennie and Bob, Janna, the conference planning committee, and all the men and women of The Ripley Church who worked so hard to host a fantastic conference, took care of all my needs, and made me feel so welcome. 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 women’s event, I’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 Kerri, Bonnie, and other conference attendees who took most 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

Report Back: Cullman, Alabama, Women’s Conference

March 23, 2023March 22, 2023 Michelle Lesley

I recently had the pleasure of fellowshipping and sharing with the wonderful women of Cullman, Alabama, and the surrounding area at Salem Baptist Church’s women’s conference, put on by the awesome men of SBC. “The women of this church are the serving-est women I know,” Pastor Cory told me, “and we want to serve them for a change!”. What a great way to “outdo one another in showing honor”! (Romans 12:10)

My husband has taken to driving me to conferences that are nearby (and occasionally, those that aren’t!), so, since Cullman is a scant 6 1/2 hours from Baton Rouge, he accompanied me on this whirlwind trip. We had a great time together, chatting and listening to podcasts, and he really enjoyed hanging out with Pastor Cory and the rest of the brothers at Salem.

After a quick “stop and shop” (and lunch!) at Buc-ee’s in Leeds, AL…

Buc-ee’s is the new Stuckey’s. If you know, you know. :0)🦫

…we arrived in Cullman Friday afternoon and got settled into our motel. Pastor Cory and his delightful wife, Amber, immediately whisked us away for some fabulous Mexican ice cream. Mine was chocolate-brownie-Oreo. I could definitely go for some more of that!

Friday night, it was conference time!

On arriving, we could see that Salem Baptist is a charming little church tucked into a beautiful, pastoral nook of northern Alabama.

I spy, with my little eye, TWO crosses. :0)
I miss “Baptist scoreboards”. Nice to see you, old friends!
SBC has lovely stained glass windows.
This serene horse pasture sits across the street from SBC.
She ain’t what she used to be, many long years ago. :0)
“Lady, are you ever going to stop taking pictures of us?”

A delicious pulled pork dinner from what must be the best barbecue restaurant for miles around was a fantastic way to get the festivities kicked off.

Once everyone was well fed and ready to focus, we headed into our first teaching session, God’s Design for Biblical Womanhood. Womanhood is special and unique. Womanhood – not a cheap knockoff of manhood – is something God values and wants women to display in the world, the church, and the family.

Friday night worship, teaching, and fellowship:

A hearty breakfast awaited us as we arrived at SBC Saturday morning.

Thank you so much to these gracious gents who worked so hard in the kitchen and in other capacities before and during the conference!

Saturday’s teaching started with our second session on biblical womanhood: Walking in Biblical Womanhood. Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to change the diapers. God’s plan for most of us is to change the diapers, get the groceries, make the meals. We fight back against feminism by standing – right where God has placed us – and living each day faithfully.

We wrapped things up for the weekend with a fun Q&A session. These ladies asked some smart questions!

Saturday teaching and fellowship:

I don’t mind telling you this might be my favorite picture of the whole conference. It is never too early to start teaching your girls about biblical womanhood. Whenever you can, include them in multi-generational events like this one where they’ll be around godly older women they can begin developing Titus 2 relationships with.

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. My deepest thanks to Cory and Amber, and all the men and women of Salem Baptist Church who worked so hard to host a fantastic conference, took care of all my needs, and made me feel so welcome. 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 women’s event, I’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 Amber and other conference attendees who took most 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

Report Back: Building Godly Women Conference

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Michelle Lesley

I had such a wonderful time of fellowship recently with the delightful ladies of Tangent, Oregon, and the surrounding area at the Building Godly Women conference. The hard working ladies from Grace Bible Fellowship put in lots of hours and elbow grease to host a warm and polished event that was enjoyed by all.

Hi ‘n’ ‘bye, San Francisco! Hope I get to stay longer next time!

I don’t know if you realize this or not but Tangent, Oregon, is really, really far away from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I live – 2,435 miles as the crow flies. Fortunately, I was flying on an Eagle, not a crow, that took me from Baton Rouge to Houston to San Francisco to Eugene, Oregon.

It was my first time in San Francisco. I did not leave my heart there, but I did leave plenty of tracts, and that’s pretty much the same thing. I hope I get to see more than the inside of the airport next time, although it was one of the nicer places I’ve changed planes.

When I arrived in Eugene, I learned that everyone was worried I might not make it in due to a snow storm which had passed through the area that day, but God was very kind to skirt it around the airport somehow. Sadly, only a few flakes were falling as we left the airport. This Southern gal likes to visit her snow.

My kind hosts for the weekend, Dee and her husband, Mike, picked me up and welcomed me into their lovely home, where they treated me like royalty for the weekend.

My favorite kind of coke (no, there’s no wine in it!).

Dee sure studied up on me and blessed me with my favorite snacks and thoughtful gifts, including some goat’s milk bar soap made by her daughter, and a beautiful water bottle adorned with cherry blossoms, the official decor flower of the conference. And check out those gorgeous (real) tulips in the background!

See those chocolate covered hazelnuts? Hazelnuts (filberts) are grown right around the area I was staying in (and they were really good!).

Friday, I had the opportunity to rest up a bit before some fun outings…

After lunch, Dee was so kind to take me to see a couple of local points of interest. We stopped at the Larwood Wayside, a gorgeous little picnic area on the banks of Crabtree Creek, which is adjacent to the Larwood covered bridge, built in 1939. Covered bridges are a dying breed in the United States. Only about 750 remain.

With my sweet hostess, Dee.

We came to a fork in the road, so we took it! Ironically, this fork was on the side of the road rather than at an actual fork in the road. Why is it there? Who knows?

Behind me you can see one of the many grass fields in the area. Grass is grown as a crop for seed, hay, and sod.

The beautiful snow dappled mountains we saw as we left the fork are the Cascades.

Friday night, it was conference time!

Charcuterie cups for the ladies to snack on – what a great idea!

Our first session was Hooked on a Feeling: Living by God’s Word Instead of Our Feelings, and it was a great way to kick things off. Scripture is our authority as Christians, and we shouldn’t let our feelings lead us around by the nose.

Pastor Tom Pennington (no relation) was so kind to welcome and pray for the ladies.

Friday night fellowship:

Saturday, we hit the ground running with How to Study (and Teach!) the Bible. This is such a crucial skill for Christian women today. We’ve got to be good students of the Word so we can disciple our own children and the women and children of our churches.

Between sessions, we were treated to a scrumptious brunch of quiche, coffee cake, and fresh fruit.

Feast your eyes on these exquisite table settings. Each of those cherry blossoms (on all of those tables!) was made by hand from tissue. Can you believe it? If someone hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known they weren’t real.

Our final teaching session was Discernment 101: Learn to Discern. We talked about what discernment is, and how to use it – identifying false teachers and false doctrine – to the glory of God.

We rounded out the day with lots of fellowship and pictures.

The cherry on top of this wonderful weekend was a trip to breathtaking Multnomah Falls, the second tallest waterfall in the contiguous United States (Yosemite Falls in California is the tallest). I’m so grateful to Mike and Dee for going out of their way to make sure I got to see it.

Upper falls and old lodge (now gift shop, restaurant, etc.)
Upper falls
Upper and lower falls
Yes, I did hike all the way up to that bridge!
Lower falls
See that bus-sized rock in the next picture.>>
<<Bus-sized rock in upper center of picture.
Standing on the bridge in front of the waterfall, that mountain just across the way is in Washington.
Thank you, Dee and Mike!

On the way to Multnomah Falls, we caught a glimpse of majestic Mt. Hood, completely blanketed in snow. Mt. Hood is actually a dormant volcano and is the highest mountain in Oregon.

After a lovely dinner with Mike and Dee, it was time to say goodbye. My deepest thanks to them, the conference planning committee, pastor Tom, and all the men and women of Grace Bible Fellowship who worked so hard to host a fantastic conference, took care of all my needs, and made me feel so welcome. 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 women’s event, I’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 Dee and other conference attendees who took most 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

Report Back: Beautifully Rooted Among the Chaos Conference

February 9, 2023February 8, 2023 Michelle Lesley

I had such a wonderful time last weekend sharing with the delightful ladies of the Omaha, Nebraska, area at the Beautifully Rooted Among the Chaos women’s conference. The women’s ministry team from Providence Bible Church in nearby Gretna worked so hard and put on a lovely event that was enjoyed by all.

Photo credit: Lola Gomez, AP / The Dallas Morning News

Things got off to an iffy start Thursday as the first leg of my trip took me from Baton Rouge to Dallas to change planes. The recent ice storm had all of us concerned about flight cancellations and delays. I praise God for His omniscience in providing me what was originally supposed to be a four hour layover, because my first flight was delayed over an hour. But even with the delay, I still had plenty of time to grab some Chick-Fil-A and catch my breath before my next flight … which also ended up being delayed by about an hour. Considering all the problems the ice storm caused in an area that doesn’t often have to deal with such things, I thought DFW and American Airlines did a pretty good job with only one hour delays.

I finally made it to the airport in Omaha, where my wonderful hostess for the weekend, Trudy, and her husband, Ross, collected me and whisked me off to their lovely home. They treated me to a Nebraska favorite, Valentino’s pizza. So good!

Photo credit: Valentino’s / Valentino’s Facebook

After dinner, I was ready to crash. A lovely hostess gift bag full of Nebraska charm awaited me in Trudy and Ross’ well appointed guest room!

Trudy really studied up on me! She knew I love local goodies, that I never have much room in my suitcase to take gifts home with me, and that I’ve been collecting Christmas ornaments from the places I visit.
An A+ hostess! This is the kind of hospitality I aspire to!

Friday morning I had the luxury of sleeping in a smidge, plus a little time to get some work done, and snap a couple of photos. Trudy and Ross’ house backs up to a small lake that was partially frozen. Isn’t it beautiful in the winter sunshine?

Soon, it was time to head out for lunch with the event planning committee and then on to the conference site. Le Peep has not made its way to Louisiana yet, but we have a breakfast / brunch place that’s similar, so I knew it was going to be good. And, boy howdy, was it! If you ever happen upon a location, be sure to stop in and order everything on the menu. I had the Monte Cristo crepes. C’est magnifique!

After getting settled in at our hotel, it was conference time! The conference was held at Omaha’s Tiburon Golf Club. The view was picturesque and the staff was so helpful and accommodating.

The event planning committee did a superb job decorating and preparing the materials!

Conference booklet
Centerpieces

I had a little trouble with my voice during the session, but the ladies were all so kind to pray me right through it, and the Lord quickly restored things to normal.

Saturday started with Rock Your Role at Home and at Church, followed by Teach What Is Good: Discipling Younger Women in the 21st Century. The ladies enjoyed their time of fellowship and encouraging one another in their discussion groups between sessions.

Next on the agenda was a hearty lunch of hamburgers or grilled chicken sandwiches. It was quite a repast!

Finally, we wrapped up the day with a great Q&A session. These ladies were so astute and asked some very thought-provoking questions!

Picture time with the ladies is always fun!

After another wonderful dinner with the conference planning committee, it was time to say goodbye. Many thanks to Trudy and Ross, Mary, Terri, Susan, Kim, and Skyler who prayed for me and the attendees every step of the way. They all worked so hard to host a fantastic conference, took care of all my needs, and made me feel so welcome.

If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information.

Photo Credits

DFW and Valentino photos credited in captions.

Le Peep logo courtesy of Le Peep.

The photos with me in them were kindly sent to me by event planning committee members and attendees.

All other photos by Michelle Lesley

Speaking Engagements

Report Back: Jesus Camp Nantucket Retreat 2022 (and 30th Anniversary Jaunt!)

November 4, 2022November 27, 2023 Michelle Lesley

It brought me such joy, recently, to share with a great group of ladies at the Jesus Camp, Nantucket Women’s Retreat on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Conferences are super for reaching out to women in your community and surrounding areas, but retreats provide an intimate atmosphere that’s conducive to both formal instruction and informal, one on one discipleship. And we had plenty of time and space for both! Many thanks to Darcy Creech Marelli for opening up her lovely homes and hosting this biannual time of refreshing for women from all over the country.

I love the way Darcy decorates her homes with these varied and striking maps of Nantucket!

My husband doesn’t often get to come with me to speaking engagements, but since we’ll be celebrating our 30th anniversary in December, we decided to make this a “working second honeymoon,” driving up to the retreat together, exploring Nantucket, and visiting any sites that caught our fancy on the drive home. (In case you’re wondering, it’s about a 24 hour drive from our home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Hyannis, Massachusetts, where we caught the ferry to Nantucket Island.)

A loo with a view! :0)

Our view from the ferry as we docked in Nantucket.

Darcy and her friend Sheree graciously picked us up at the ferry and whisked us out to the High Point, the Jesus Camp property, a lovely home and guest house perfect for hosting retreats and other getaways. (Ladies if you enjoy admiring beautifully appointed homes, be sure to check out the slideshow and video of High Point here. You’ll love the nautical and local island themes!)

The main house – High Point
The guest house
Sunset from the roof of High Point

Things got off to a cozy start Wednesday night with the arrival of all the retreat attendees. We shared a delicious dinner, then had the opportunity to hear everyone’s testimonies. Our backgrounds varied from those of us who were born and raised in church and came to know Christ at an early age to those who had survived abuse, or walked on the wild side, or were involved in heretical church backgrounds before coming to Christ later in life. There is no such thing as a “boring” testimony. Every new birth in Jesus is a miracle of His mercy and grace.

Thursday’s teaching started with God’s Word, Our Foundation, discussing the necessity, authority and sufficiency of God’s Word. We rounded out our instructional time with Teach What Is Good: Discipling Women in the 21st Century, examining biblical and practical discipleship and women’s ministry. Each session was followed by a time of Q&A and discussion groups.

Friday, session 1 was Hooked on a Feeling: Living By God’s Word Instead of Our Emotions. As Christians, our feelings don’t get to lead us around by the nose, we submit to the authority of Scripture instead. Our second session was Discernment 101. Both teaching sessions were again followed by Q&A and discussion groups. Many of the ladies were new to discernment and were disappointed to learn that some of their favorite ministries, authors, and teachers are false teachers. But they were all very gracious and receptive, and I had several fruitful conversations with women who were eager to learn.

During free time, the ladies enjoyed chatting around the dinner table, relaxing in the pool and hot tub, and trips into town and to the beach.

Retreat swag! Darcy kindly provided these resources and gifts for retreat attendees, and gave me a special treat of honey from High Point’s hive!

Ana, a retreat attendee who is originally from Guatemala but now resides in Ohio, brought me these lovely gifts. Homemade buckeyes and Guatemalan gifts and coffee. The sale of this coffee supports the orphanage and foster care home Ana and her husband still operate in Guatemala.

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. It was a wonderful time of fellowship in the Lord, and I’m looking forward to going back next year! Many thanks to Darcy and her assistant, Otilia, who worked so hard to host a great retreat, took care of all my needs, and made my husband and me feel so welcome.

If your church or organization is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information.

When the retreat was over, my husband, Scott, and I had the opportunity to explore the island a bit. We went out to Great Point, the farthest point on the island, and had a wonderful time seeing the seals and the Great Point lighthouse. The shops downtown were charming, and we enjoyed an authentic Nantucket dinner at The SeaGrille.

If you think this is a lot of pictures of seals, you should see how many I deleted. :0)
Look how close the seals came to the shore!
A quirky hippo statue outside one of the shops.

The next day, we boarded the ferry and headed back to the mainland. Since Plymouth, Massachusetts, was only 30 minutes away, we decided to make that our first sightseeing stop.

At Plimoth Patuxet we saw recreations of a Patuxet home site and 17th century English village. We enjoyed seeing Wampanoag (Indian) boats, dwellings, and a cooking demonstration. The Wampanoag word for the succotash stew (turkey, beans, corn, celery, onions, etc.) our guide was making means “throw it in”. (There’s a running joke in Louisiana that that’s pretty much what “gumbo” means, too.) They would just throw in whatever they had and keep adding to it. We sampled some at the visitors’ center, and it was pretty good – basically a turkey and vegetable soup. We also saw the English village, made up of several Pilgrim homes and a fort.

Our guide making succotash
The succotash we got to sample in the visitors’ center.
The English village (view from the fort)
I found the theology books the Pilgrims brought with them.
This was the women’s ministry book, lol. :0)
The fort.

We loved the beautiful fall foliage and scenery in the Plymouth area.

Our next stop in Plymouth was Jenney family grist mill. It was situated in a lovely little area, on, of course, a running stream. It still operates several times a week.

From the mill, we walked over to Plymouth Rock. It sits ensconced in a little pavilion on the side of the road. No velvet ropes or admission fees, no big hoopla. It’s just there. Along the way we saw some other Pilgrim points of interest including the Scrooby Leyden Church / Mayflower Meetinghouse and the Church of the Pilgrimage, along with monuments to Governor William Bradford and Elder William Brewster.

Scrooby Leyden Church / Mayflower Meetinghouse
Church of the Pilgrimage
“A man that had done and suffered much for ye Lord Jesus and ye gospell’s sake…”

Our final stop in Plymouth was the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower. It was much smaller than I expected, and very spare in its appointments.

In case any of the Pilgrims fell overboard. :0)
I’m glad the Pilgrims had a fire extinguisher aboard. :0)

My husband is a JFK buff, so the next day we drove the half hour to Boston and visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of the University of Massachusetts. (If you’d like to hear the “My Daddy Is President” song, click here.)

“Ask not what your country can do for you….”
<<One of Jackie’s gowns
Can you believe this was a purse?
A piece of the Berlin wall.
There was a special exhibit on John Jr. and Caroline.
I actually took this picture because the pose, the hairstyle, everything is very similar to a picture of my mother with my sister and me.
<<Painting by Grandma Moses that hung in Caroline’s bedroom.
“My Daddy is President” song
Matching rockers for Caroline and John Jr. made by a craftsman in North Carolina
Dolls from Caroline’s extensive collection. As a child I had a doll from Mexico that was almost exactly like the one in the black dress.

I had wanted to visit New York City on our way home, but, unfortunately, we didn’t have time. This is as close as we got.

After Boston, we headed for Hershey, Pennsylvania, and spent most of the day at Chocolate World. We went on a ride that explained how chocolate is made, designed our own candy bars, went to a chocolate tasting, and took a trolley tour of the town.