Sunday by the Sea: Robin Jones Gunn

"And he [Jesus] saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"
~ Matthew 8:26-27

Back in February I had the pleasure of meeting author Robin Jones Gunn at the Woman to Woman Conference hosted at my school (Corban University). I began a post series on what I learned at the conference, but I never finished it. However, I simply had to come back to it and at least share a few words of encouragement from Robin, as well as the picture (above) of me and her! It was super exciting getting to meet her, and she's very sweet!

Anyway, the title of the conference was What if God has dreams for your life? Robin talked to us about her own dreams and how God has worked in her life. (Her first talk of the two made me cry!) One verse she mentioned a couple of times was Ephesians 3:20 (The Message)--

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."

God is all powerful! He is in control of all the seas, of all creation, of all period! And yet how often do we put limits on what we think He can do in our lives?

Here are a few inspiring quotes from Robin:

• "Shame off you!" (Robin noted that she and her sister used to say this to each other instead of "Shame on you" in order to remind each other of God's grace.)

• "When God fulfills our dreams, it's not how we think it's going to be." (We've heard it said that God works in mysterious ways. Well, I think that's true in that we often don't understand how He's working in our lives until we can look back after the fact, and even then we don't have the complete big picture that He does. Robin noted that God plants the dreams in our hearts, but the way He fulfills them is often quite different from our expectations.)

• "You are a victim of grace, honey." (With all the trials of life, sometimes we look at ourselves as victims. But I love Robin's reminder that the only thing we are victims of is God's grace, which is far, far beyond what we could ever deserve!)

I loved getting to meet Robin, and as I've not yet read one of her books, I'm looking forward to diving into the one I bought (and had autographed!) at the conference called Under a Maui Moon--hopefully soon!

Have you had the opportunity to meet any authors? Have you read any books by Robin?

I'd love to hear your stories! And as you begin this week, please remember that the God we serve is omnipotent--all-powerful--and He has a dream/purpose for your life!

Woman to Woman Conference: Fitness Myths

The second workshop I attended during the Woman to Woman Conference this past Saturday was called Fitness Myths and was taught by Shannon Simmons (the Assistant Professor of Human Performance at Corban University). Here's a brief description of the breakout session from the brochure:

No pain, no gain? Walking is for wimps? Feel the burn? Dr. Simmons will help you separate the fitness MYTHS from fitness FACTS as she shares how to get healthy the smart way. Learn what is 'hype' and learn how to live a healthier life that can last the test of time and myths.

This was a great workshop, and for someone who made a New Year's resolution to exercise more (and for someone who is a chocoholic and a "snackoholic" and a "cookieoholic"--you get the idea!), this session offered some awesome tips on how to stay fit for life!

Now, it would be quite a long post if I shared all of the myths vs. truths that Dr. Simmons discussed, but I'll share a few of them along with some fabulous, practical tips on fitness:

Myth # 2: Losing weight = starving (ie: having to feel deprived).

Truth: Losing weight is not about deprivation but about consistency (ex: cut 100 calories a day from your normal diet, lose 10 pounds a year; but note that this works vice versa!).

Myth # 4: Late night eating causes weight gain.

Truth: Focus on the calories, not the time of day. (Consider your caloric intake for the whole day. A little healthy snack at night if you're hungry--preferably of two types, like a fruit and a carb--is fine if you ate well-balanced meals throughout the day. But don't eat too little during the day and then load up during the night!)

Myth # 8: I need a lot of equipment [to work out properly].

Truth: Move your body! Just get active. Equipment, the gym, etc.--all those sorts of things are nice and useful, but the point is just to get moving in some way!

At the end of the session before the Q & A time, Dr. Simmons discussed tips for living an overall healthy lifestyle, which made a lot of sense to me. Here are some of them:

• Short term does not equal success.
  
• Change one small thing at a time.
• Find a healthy lifestyle that suits you, not someone else.
  
• Be yourself; enjoy the journey.

I confess that I felt kind of like an expert after this session, and I'm afraid I offended someone recently by putting down their personal effort to try and be healthy. I don't want to do that again, so please note that I don't have all the answers. (I'm sure you were quite aware of that before!) ;) I was just really encouraged by Dr. Simmons' talk, and I think she had a lot of helpful advice to share!

Sometimes it's daunting to think about trying to be healthy. But just consider making one small life-change at a time. For example, Dr. Simmons talked about replacing one unhealthy food you eat everyday with a healthier option (except for one day a week, in moderation).

Or perhaps you could establish a short exercise schedule a few days a week that you enjoy and that you can do rain or shine, every week. For me so far this year, it's been the video workout I brought with me to school this semester--I can work out in my room three days a week without worries. And the best part of all? I enjoy it! It's fun! If you can find something fun to do to get moving, you are golden! ;)

Woman to Woman Conference: Contentment

The first workshop I attended this last Saturday during the Woman to Woman Conference at Corban University was called Contentment, taught by Anne Jeffers. Here's a brief description of the breakout session from the brochure:

Often a student will say, "I can't wait until I graduate and begin really living." If it isn't graduation, retirement, vacation or the weekend, it is something else for which we are waiting. How can we learn to be content in the season of life in which we live? Contentment is a learned virtue, and this session will address the process.

Doesn't that "season of life" idea fit in so well with this blog? I met Mrs. Jeffers last semester when I went to a few of the Sunday School classes her husband teaches at Bethany Baptist Church. She is so sweet!

This was a fun workshop, and it was definitely pertinent to my life--contentment is something I really need to work on! It's not that I don't have plenty of things to be thankful for, because I most certainly do! But I have materialistic tendencies as well as a constant eagerness for future activities that hinder contentment.

Mrs. Jeffers shared a lot of wonderful verses, ideas, and quotes with us about contentment and all that it entails. Here are some of the notes I wrote down:

• Contentment--a willingness to be satisfied with God's provision.

• If I can get my wants closer to my needs, I'll be a rich woman.

• Note the connection between contentment, gratitude, and generosity.

• Hebrews 13:5
  

Here are some tips she shared for changing the way we think:

• Be aware of the snowball effect of your thinking. (In other words, how do you start your day? What do you think about the first thing in the morning, and how does that lead to other thoughts, whether negative or positive?)

• Do one thing at a time.
  

• Live this day as if it were your last.

Not necessarily easy things to do, but these are definitely good things to work on and to remember!

At the end of the session, Mrs. Jeffers gave us some journal pages so we could write down what we were thankful for. She also had us take some daily calendar pages with various ideas of what we can be grateful for. I have to say, of the two pages I took with lists on them, one of my favorites was:

officers in dress uniform

OK, is there any woman who isn't thankful for that? ;)

Overall I enjoyed the workshop, and it offered some great perspectives for me. Contentment can involve being content with the things we have been given, which are only temporary--something I hope the Contentment Reading Challenge will remind me of!

But contentment is an attitude that doesn't involve just things, but also circumstances. God has placed each one of us in a specific place in time while we are in this world, and only in the present can we do anything--the past is gone and (as Anne Jeffers noted) "tomorrow is God's, not ours."

May we grow in contentment and live each day and each moment He gives us for Him!

An Awesome Conference Experience!

I was so blessed to attend the Woman to Woman Conference at my school (Corban University) yesterday! The Associated Student Body generously offered to pay the way for up to 50 Corban girls, so I was able to go for free and hear author Robin Jones Gunn speak, as well as attend some great classes!

Robin Jones Gunn is the author of the "Christy Miller" series, the "Sisterchicks" series, and many other Christian novels and non-fiction books. Her latest book (coming out in May), co-authored by Tricia Goyer, is called Praying for Your Future Husband, and it was so awesome to hear where the idea for this upcoming release came from! I have to say, I have not yet had the pleasure of reading her work, but after this conference, I am definitely eager to do so!

Robin is a fantastic speaker--so sweet and personable--and I got to meet her, take a picture with her, and have her sign a book for me and a book I bought for my sister! *Squeal!* Yes, I was a tad bit star-struck, as you can probably tell! When I met her, I think I might have sounded quite silly:

Amber: "I'm sure you hear this all the time from people you meet at conferences, but I hope to be a novelist someday, too. I have a blog..."

Something like that! ;) Or how about this?

Amber: "Your talk this morning was so good. It made me cry."

Robin: "I hope they were good tears!"

Yes, they were! Both of the talks she gave us were excellent. Anyway, she was so kind and she gave me a couple of hugs!

She also pointed out that the nice volunteer who was selling her (Robin's) books just so happened to be an author, too, and now I'm going to be reviewing her book(s) here on my blog! How fun is that? Her name is Tracey Jane Jackson, and she has a Civil War Brides series that involves time-travel and romance. Sounds pretty interesting! (She said her books aren't specifically Christian fiction, but they are clean historical romances.)

Well, there's just so much to say about the conference that I'm going to do a series of posts about it! I'm planning on having a post for each of the classes I took (Contentment, Fitness Myths, and Spiritual Discipline), as well as a post about the main talks given by Robin Jones Gunn. I hope you enjoy them--I'm quite excited to share what I learned with all of you! (And I just love the connections between these classes/talks and some of my New Year's Resolutions, as well as the Contentment Reading Challenge!)