Radiant Purity Conference in Bristol, VA

"Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

1 Timothy 4:12

Three Friday's ago Daddy, Hannah, Alexis, and I (Kimber) went to a Radiant Purity Conference in Bristol, VA. [For those of you not familiar with the Bright Lights Ministry of Sarah Mally - author of Before You Meet Prince Charming - then go to: http://www.blogger.com/www.tomorrowsforefathers.com and click on the "bright lights" icon] We left around 1 PM. Daddy arrived home early, so he could shine up the truck for us. He washed the car, sprayed the tire wheels, and made his truck look fabulous! Then he took a shower and we left after saying goodbye to Mama and the rest of the siblings. We decided to skip eating dinner along the way, so we could eat with the Whitsons at Taco Bell later that night. (Yes, our friends, the Whitsons, came also! Well, minus Michael and Madelyn)

We arrived at Belle Meadows Baptist Church (where the conference was being held) 5 minutes late but we found our groups easily (thanks Mrs. Whitson!). I was in the Crystal group, Alexis and Abby Whitson were in the Opals, and Hannah was in the Garnets. I forgot what group Taylor was in but she wasn't in any of ours. The conference went really well that night. My leader's name was Micah-Noel and she was very nice. After we had our snacks I met up with Taylor, Abby, and the rest. I really couldn't wait to see Taylor and it had only been a week since we saw them last!

After the conference ended we all went to Taco Bell for a late night meal!

Taylor and Hannah

Daddy, Mr. Whitson, and Mrs. Whitson.

Lexi and Abby.

Lexi was a last second addition, so she and Abby were so happy to be together! :)





left to right: Daddy, Me (Kimber), Abby, Alexis, Taylor, Hannah, and Mr. Whitson.








You see from the above pictures that we were inside but it was too cold in there so we moved outside.





When we were done we drove to our LaQuinta Inn, checked in our rooms, got settled, and walked around for a little bit.







Voila!

Some lamps outside of the lobby.

Our bedroom.

Daddy asked (and I prayed) that we could get a room next to the Whitsons and the lady said yes! So, we were room #319 and the Whitsons were #320.

The first thing we did after we got settled was go to the lobby and ask if we could swim in the pool even though it was after hours.

The lady was very, very kind and said we could as long as we were quiet. So we put on our suits and headed down to the pool! (It was dark now and around 10:30-11:00 PM)

[Daddy took all of the pool pictures for me - thanks Daddy!]

Mr. Whitson

Daddy and Mr. Whitson just stayed out of the pool and watched us.

Getting ready to jump in!

Alexis and Abby reported that it was warm, but when we checked on it it was cold! :) Well, at least cold for 11:00 at night! :)

Taylor

To keep us warm in the cold pool we played different games, swam laps, raced, etc. The picture above is of Taylor when we swam on our back!

Talking

Handstand Contest!

After about 15-30 minutes of swimming around some of us started to shiver and our lips started quivering so we decided to get out! :)

Abby and Alexis going back to our rooms.

After some of us took showers, read the Bible, warmed up by the hair dryer, etc. we hopped into bed by 12 AM!

Well, the next morning we (the Wassenbergs!) were up at 6 AM. After showering, dressing, brushing teeth, etc. we went down to their breakfast bar. They had lots of good food there! I really like instant oatmeal and they had that so I poured out the dry ingredients and went to get the wet! Well, none of the "hot" liquids had any signs that I remember seeing so I just picked the one that looked best...little did I know that that was the espresso! :-P Well, let's just say I like water in my oatmeal not espresso! Thankfully, I caught myself before I poured too much but the oatmeal still had an espresso aftertaste - yuck! :)

Lexi, Hannah, and I before going into the church.

Lexi eating lunch.

After the morning sessions and lunch we were a little bored so we decided to count how many bricks was in this wall:

Hannah counting

Taylor calculating

Mr. Whitson and Daddy thinking.

Daddy helping us count! :)

Mr. Whitson demonstrating how to count bricks!

He counted the top bricks in less than 5 minutes while it took Taylor and Hannah about twice to four times longer! :)

After all the afternoon sessions, we went to Cracker Barrel. That was the first time we (Hannah, Alexis, and I) had EVER been to Cracker Barrel, so it was interesting trying to order! :) I ended up with French Toast and Hashbrown Casserole, Hannah had a bacon burger, and Alexis had grilled cheese.

After filling ourselves to the fullest point imaginable (thanks for dinner, Mr. Whitson!) we went outside and there was an absolutely beautiful sunset! So we decided to take pictures together before we left.

The sunset!

Abby, Mr. Whitson, Mrs. Whitson, and Taylor

Another picture!

Me, Daddy, Alexis, and Hannah

Mrs. Whitson took pictures with the camera and she did great after all of my confusing instructions!

If you can't tell I (far left) was completely out of the loop that we were supposed to be making "serious" faces. Whoops! :)

The sunset again!

Just as we started to climb in the car (after saying goodbye) Mrs. Whitson ran up and asked if we could get a "Girl picture!"

The 5 girls!

Then we sorrowfully said goodbye, climbed into our cars, and drove away. Of course we wish to see each other really, really soon!

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One of the things that I learned at the conference was that I need to give my dreams to Jesus and be what He wants me to be. I also learned to live my single years for the Lord and not be wasting away to nothing while waiting for a husband! :) It was a very helpful, encouraging weekend...I wish I could go on and on about the Chalk Talks, the seminars, the group talks, Miss Mally, the skits, and more but I don't have time so this will have to be it for today. :(

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All for Jesus,

Kimber

P.S - I'm REALLY behind on my posting - sorry!