Some find renewal at Oklahoma City conference
BY CARLA HINTON
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Published: October 31, 2009
Debbie Sanders walked into the Ford Center on Friday with a sense of urgency and excitement.
The
Tulsa woman said she wanted to celebrate her victory over cancer with the thousands of other women attending the Women of Faith conference in downtown
Oklahoma City.
"For me, this year it’s to celebrate being healthy because I just finished chemo,” said Sanders, 39. "I’m here to praise God for being here.”
Conference spokeswoman
Susan Ellingburg said between 8,000 and 12,000 women were expected for the two-day event. Many women attended a preconference session Friday featuring core presenters
Marilyn Meberg;
Grammy Award-winning Christian recording artist and Oklahoma City resident
Sandi Patty; and the conference founder,
Stephen Arterburn. Patty’s daughter
Anna Trent served as emcee for the session.
Like Sanders, many of Friday’s participants said they enjoyed celebrating their faith at the conference in Oklahoma City.
Julie Smith of Ada said she traveled to the event with seven other women who attend her church, Calvary Baptist.
"We just decided that we live in a small town and there’s nothing like this there,” she said. "We just wanted to come to get refreshed.”
Tonjia Willis, 36, a Thomas native who now lives in
Amarillo,
Texas, came with about 16 women from Chaparral Hills Baptist Church.
"It’s kind of a renewing of everything — of spirit, of mind, of faith. A big renewing of faith,” she said.
Meberg encouraged the women to open their hearts to the Lord about their past disappointments, failures and tragedies.
"Every single one of us in this arena has a box labeled ‘Where were you God? Where were you?’” Meberg said.
She said the contents of their box of "secrets” often make them question God’s love and hiding them away does nothing to ease the pain when they feel God has not answered their prayers.
She said women can be assured that the Lord feels the pain of what’s troubling them. She encouraged them to trust him with their secret wounds.
"Say ‘I don’t understand it but I’m going to trust you to bring good out of what has broken my heart,’” Meberg said as she referred to Romans 8:28.
Willis said she gleaned much from Meberg’s words.
"It always seems like the message matches up with what’s going on in our lives, that it seems like it’s talking directly to you,” she said.
The conference continues at 9 a.m. today at the Ford Center, 100 W Reno.
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