Hallelujah, I survived!!! Yes, Brianne and I made it back to Louisville last night from a fantastic event in Chicago. We even got national coverage, as you can see when you visit the Presbyterian News Service at www.pcusa.org/news. And thank you to the three guest bloggers who held down the fort while I was off driving people to the airport. You did a fantastic job giving all of us a taste for the event.

Honestly, in everything we did at this leadership event, I could feel the Holy Spirit at work. From our panel discussion on Thursday night, where Larry Horne from Chicago Uptown Ministries told us about his experience of homelessness and his activism on their behalf, to workshop experiences talking to people living with HIV/AIDS on Friday, to awesome interactive plenaries with Laura Cheifetz and Lisa Larges on Saturday, the event offered something to challenge and invigorate everyone.

As Christians, Jesus asks us to be witnesses to the truth. What I saw in this event were over 30 women who now want to be those witnesses, to share the love of God in the world. So many of the young women I talked to wanted to take what they had learned at the event and share it—with their families, with their congregations, with their campuses. After hearing Rick Ufford-Chase speak on U.S.-Mexico immigration and the border on Friday night, even I stayed up past midnight to call David and tell him what I’d learned.

So thank you, all you phenomenal women who came with such open hearts and open minds to this event. Thank you to the wonderful leadership, who created an environment where people could ask questions of their faith and discern how God has called them to act in the world. Most of all, thanks be to the God who gave us minds for reason, hearts for love, and hands for service to all the families of the earth.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” --Psalm 73:26

Kelsey