Hello, everyone!!! You probably think I’ve dropped off the face of the earth once again… though I haven’t yet (that will be on July 21), I’ve been extremely busy with the Leadership Event and orientation for my successor. That’s right, Noelle Tennis Gulden is here and has started work. Those of you at the Leadership Event had the wonderful opportunity to meet Noelle, and I’m assuming that since she showed up for work this morning, five days of event craziness didn’t cause her to turn tail and run.

The Leadership Event once again reminded me that God’s grace works in every situation. Personally, I spent most of my time worrying about the students we couldn’t find at the airport, the linen crisis we had with the University of Louisville (apparently “linens” at UofL does not include top sheets, blankets, or pillows), and the fact that we were always running late. For someone who prides herself on smooth and well-running event planning, the chaos was a source of anxiety for me.

Yet, as I constantly need to be reminded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In all the students who found solace in knowing that there were others like them in the church, in all the Presbyterian Women partners who expressed joy at the presence and activism of young women, in all the conversations that were blessed, the Spirit was at work. So many students came up to me and remarked on how glad they were that they had come. It connected them to other students and to the larger church in a way that few of our other events have done. Even the fact that we were a small event—only 21 students—meant that the students in the group bonded with one another in ways that women at a 250-person conference could not. Even though the event didn’t showcase my event planning skills at their best, God’s power was made perfect and the Spirit was at work.

Thank you to all the women who came to the Leadership Event—once again, you reminded me why I’ve been doing this for all these years. It was your engagement and discussion that made the event what it was, and taught me even more about the realm of God. I will miss you.

“But God said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” --2 Corinthians 12:9

Kelsey