Triennial XIV

Triennial was amazing!!!  17 women from our church were able to attend this conference with 800+ women from around the world.  God met us through worship, sermons, breakouts, prayer, awareness of what is going on in our world, friendships, zumba, shopping to support causes, resting, the beach, the pool, late night talks, and coffee dates!  

Our theme was Rooted: 

 Eph. 3:15-21 - For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[c] in heaven and on earth is named,¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 We learned about God's desire for living things is growth.  He does not want us to remain dormant!  We were encouraged to find and focus on the area in our own lives where He wants to see us continue to grow.  But in order to grow we must be rooted!  That means drawing near to God.  It means journeying together even though relationships can be messy.

Sometimes we think the challenge is too great for us to solve but it starts with a small step.  They used this video at Triennial.  It is a great illustration of how one small thing can be the start of a huge movement!

ROOTED!

Our group enjoying some early morning Zumba!

 Laura won the 5k race!  The group got a little prize together for her!

 The Justice Walk  encouraged us to be aware of what is going on near our home and around the world.  What is our role to fight poverty, trafficking, slavery, and injustice?  We can't do everything but if we all do something we can make a difference - the domino video is a great example of that.  

 Celebrating Glory and Donna's birthday!  There is a special story behind San Francisco!  Ask Glory about it!  

It is impossible to get 17 women together at the same time for pictures.  Between the two group pictures  below and the pictures above we got everyone in our group!

Had to post this last picture of my room! Love the "ROOTED" sign!  

Many of the women made big financial commitments to come to Triennial and several ministries from our church (Young Adults, Adults, and Women Ministries) were able to provide scholarships so that so many more women could come.  The Midwest Conference was also able to provide more scholarships!  We want everyone to know what God did through the provision of those scholarships! 

"Triennial was wonderful - it was encouraging and uplifting and thought provoking.  The worship services were a time to abandon this world and trully worship our God.  I hope I will never miss a Triennial in the future."

"I have been to many women’s events and have never been challenged, fed, or stretched as I was at Triennial XIV.  Imagine packing in a month and a half of sermons and three weeks of small group teaching by women so entrenched in the word that His love blends in with their vulnerability and births something new in every woman who hears.  The beauty of Triennial is in going with other women that will return to the same space of life.  We have learned together and now we get to live it out together.  Christ is calling me deeper and deeper into a ministry life and Triennial gave me the setting to clearly hear God’s call and ask my friends for the help and accountability I will need to live it out." 

"Having the opportunity to leave behind my comfort zone and to be in community with a group of women from around the world was so refreshing to me.  But beyond refreshing, it was life-changing.  God has been teaching me that I need to let go of 'neatness' in my life.  Jesus did not come to put a neat little bow on our Christian lives.  Life with Jesus can be messy.  Relationships can be messy.  Ministry can be messy.  Yet, we are called to grow and we will grow stronger when our roots intertwine with others and when we stay connected to Jesus!  I left refreshed and with new vision to move forward in relationship with God and others."

"I had such a wonderful time attending my first Triennial Conference. It was so much fun getting to know women from Arvada Covenant and from around the world. I connected in friendship with my roommates, and made developed lasting relationships.  The hotel was beautiful, the morning options for exercise and the 5k were awesome and the food was great! The breakout workshops were a highlight- especially Helen Lee's "The Missional Mom". The Keynote speakers were amazing. The Holy Spirit moved in my life through their words. I am confident that God will use what I learned to help me continue to growing in Faith. I would definitely say it was life changing- so thank you for helping me get there!"

"There were so many great parts of Triennial that its hard just to pick one, even two. I loved the women I was able to meet from all over the World, not just the US. Loved getting to connect deeper with women in our church and build stronger relationships. The best part I would have to say for me was the healing that came from it. The Lord showed me things that I thought I was over and gave me actual closure to them. Even back home I feel the healing and peace that was all started at and because of the opportunity at Triennial." 

"Thank you so much for the opportunity to attend Triennial.  It was a blessing in so many ways!  I loved having fellowship with friends, being challenged by the speakers,  and I left feeling renewed and refreshed in the knowledge that God wants me to grow deep in His love and have the strength from that to minister to others. Thanks again so much for giving me the chance to go and feel revived in the Lord!"

"My favorite part of the whole experience at Triennial was the fellowship and community. I was surprised and blessed by genuine joy and excitement in the women there just to be with one another while learning about and worshiping Jesus. There was support, prayer, laughter and tears. Shared experiences, and hearing about others' experiences, brought women together through generational, cultural and regional differences. It was a blessing to me to see the common Spirit move to bring strangers together as sisters. We weren't addressed as wives, daughters, mothers or girls. Just followers of Christ who happen to be women. It was lovely."

"I loved getting to spend a weekend growing in Christ and in relationship with many dear sweet sisters in Christ!!!!  

My aha moment, when God spoke to me was during Judy Peterson's sermon on Saturday night.  "The Dirt on the Dirt".  The only thing that stands between my 30/60/100 times fruitfulness is the condition of my soil.   Jesus wants to disturb my soil, my well worn path, my safety in following rules, my desire to create and live in a haven.  Stay in the boat or close to shore.  Satan knows the value of the seed.  If my soil is hard, the Word does not take root in my life and Satan can snatch away the seeds.  I will miss out on the blessing of being used by God and bearing 30/60/100 times fruit.

Then there is the rocky soil.  The stones are trials and tribulations - part of the package deal.

Jesus can roll away the stones when it will glorify HIM

And the stones do not get the last word.  Let Him roll the stones away.

The weeds choke out the growing plant.  Get used to weeding, you will never be done with it.  There are always new worries popping up to replace old ones.  Some weeds are very sneaky and look like good plants.  Invite the Holy Spirit to point out any patches you have overlooked and as soon as God points one out pull it up!   You can only keep ahead of it.

Jesus is the Word, the true vine, the producer of kingdom fruit.  Get your stuff out of the way and Jesus will grow 30/60/100 fold increase

Consider whether you really want to be disturbed. 

Ask Jesus to roll away stones.

Ask the Holy Spirit to weed.

This explains a lot in life!  I was challenged as I looked at an old parable in a new way!

I am so thankful for the women who took time away from home, children and jobs to be there and experience God's goodness with me!"

At the annual meeting our very own, Cheryl Meakins, was giving the opportunity to share how Women Ministries has changed her life.  Over the past several years she has been mentored by many women in the ministry and has been able to discover the gifts that God has put in her life to bless others!

What an amazing opportunity for God to work in our lives through each other and through the unique opportunities this conference provided!  Triennial 2016 will be in the Midwest.  Who knows...maybe it will be in Denver!  We got the chance to vote on it and our group tried to convince everyone around us to vote for Denver!  Pray about joining us in 2016!