It's been a little over a week since I've returned home from The
Pearl Event II, Double Strand (TPE-II). I've been wanting to write a post about it
but I really wanted to let it soak in first. What a blessed and wonderful time.
How could you not love being in a gorgeous southern ballroom with
lots of crystal in a magnificent hotel,
with inspiring testimonies and beautiful worship music by a group
of lovely women who love God and have a heart for loving
and supporting their sisters and daughters in Christ.
It really doesn't get much better than that.
First and foremost, there's Sibi.
One of the most beautiful, spiritual and loving women I've ever met.
She is the creator, organizer, planner and heart behind TPE-II.
Her calling, in addition to being a wonderful wife and mother, is blessing
women with the knowledge that they are God's pearls. No matter
what has happened in their lives or where they are now.
God created and loves us and we are SPECIAL.
In the culture we live in most women need to hear this.
Sibi and her sweet husband, Eric, along with her beautiful
oldest daughter Macey worked hard and gave up much time,
energy and resouces to make her vision come true.
Through the circumstances of her hard life, she rose up as she was blessed
and loved by God and has a heart for sharing her testimony to bless others.
I've followed her blog for a couple of years now.
Long enough that it feels like I know her.
If you're a blogger you know what I mean.
Now that I've met her in person, even though it was just over the
weekend, she feels like a long-time friend.
She loved on us and cared for us the entire time.
She was so sweet and when the room got colder as the
day wore on, I could hear her tell her husband,
"My girls are cold. Go see if you can do something about it.
My girls are cold"
Thank you Sibi. You've made a difference in more
lives than you know.
Sibi, I was able to speak to your first born baby girl, Macey, several
times on Saturday. She was even the one who placed the pearls around my
neck. She is such a beautiful and sweet girl young lady and
I know you must be so proud of her.
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Then there is Paige.
Noonday is a company the helps widows around the world
provide for their children.
Paige became a widow as a young women when her husband
passed away from cancer leaving her with 3 small children
under the age of 3. So this is a cause near to her heart.
The Lord sent her a godly man who loved her and her girls and they
later added another baby daughter to their family.
She is blessed with four sweet and beautiful girls.
Paige has been a sweet "blog" friend to me for quite a while and actually
was one of the main people who inspired me to find my gifts from God and
pursue them. I'm "retiring" next week and will begin my journey.
She also has a heart for widows and orphans and that is a cause very important
to me also. And if that wasn't enough, I very recently found out (at TPE)
that she was the oncology nurse for the son of a dear friend of mine.
It's a small world and I'm so happy that Paige was one of the
medical professionals that loved on our dear Jesse.
I just love her.
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Next there is Sarah.
I heard several of the speakers refer to her as Miss America
and indeed she is beautiful.
But honestly, she's even more beautiful on the inside.
She is the mother of two children and two baby boys in heaven.
Her testimony is about God's comfort, grace and redemption
that got her through the tragic loss of her twin baby boys.
There were lots of tears shed in her story but her unbelievable
strength and grace is so inspiring.
It was an honor meeting her.
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Now on to Edie.
Edie is a funny, beautiful southern mom of four children.
She made "the best chocolate chip cookies ever" for
everyone and they indeed were the "best". Yummy.
Five years ago she gave up her career as a family
practice pediatrician to stay home full time with her family.
She's a home schooler, blogger of the popular blog,
Life In Grace.
She is a self proclaimed goddess of the domestic arts, loves
cowboy boots and Loretta Lynn.
A little over a year ago a fire destroyed everything they owned and
barely made it out. Visit her blog to see the amazing things
God has done in her life.
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We had the most amazing worship music throughout the day
She released a cd: Nothing But The Blood.
I encourage you to buy this cd. She has a true gifts for writing and
singing worship music that I've ever heard.
She blessed us thoughout the day and we were so greatful.
Her in-laws played backup music and they were
so talented.
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And finally there is Jane.
Jane is a single mom to a teenage son. She works for a
international Christian ministry as a prayer counselor.
(Wow! A professional pray-er)
Her testimony is about how god got her through not only
her parents painful divorce but her own eventual divorce.
God has done amazing things in her life and she
was such a great speaker.
Jane was new to me until I registered for TPE-II.
She has some design posts.
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The Pearl Event-II was an amazing time
where the speakers were able to share their stories.
Their testimonies of how God was there for them.
How God loved them.
How God loves us all.
I feel blessed to have been there and I'm hoping there will
be a Pearl Event-III so I can invite my mom, sisters,
daughters and granddaughter and nieces.
Do you hear that Sibi? Just saying.
Someone asked me if I could sum it up in one word, what would it be.
I thought about it and decided I'd sum it up with many (one words).
grace
love
faith
friendship
tears
laughter
awe
beautiful
worship
ice-tea
lemonade
cowboy boots
spanks
I'm sure there's many more words but this blog is long already.
Thank you Sibi. Thank you for blessing us, loving us,
praying for us, finding wonderful speakers to share their story,
finding a beautiful location where we feel special,
and working tirelessly to make it happen.
You definitely are his pearl.
Thankful for:
621. Sibi's hard work.
622. lemonade.
623. returning home safely from our travels.
624. new friends.
625. lessons heard and learned.