We were hosted for the 14th year by the lovely Canby Grove Conference Center. This forested riverfront venue provided a natural environment for the theme of the weekend “Running with Horses.”

Becky Hornor’s opening presentation on Friday evening, “Yes You Can!” set the tone for the weekend. Through her experiences with running and God’s Word, she shared that we can indeed “run with horses” without limitation by our physical capabilities. Tammy Kelly graced us with a song, “Before I Kneel,” a worker’s prayer to conclude the evening.

After breakfast the next day, the women gathered for Sabbath services. Tammy Kelly directed a combined ladies’ choir singing “You are Mine.” Guest speaker Paul Moody offered spiritual enlightenment in his sermon through an account in Jeremiah. Jeremiah gives an example that helps show that with God, we can speed past horses. On Sabbath afternoon, Darla Moody’s presentation “Run for Your Life” inspired us all with the courageous life story of Jon Colter. With tremendous strength and endurance, he set his focus on the goal as a reminder for us to run and not grow weary. Rounding out the Sabbath, our panel presenters Katie Spiry, Celia Bradley and Celia Hofer shared motivating and uplifting stories of lessons learned through study in Proverbs, the powerful gift of friendships and being spiritual fit by exercising obedience. Later, Cheryl Carlson offered a lovely vocal solo, “Do They See Jesus in Me?”

Saturday evening the ladies enjoyed the annual and very popular silent auction organized by Ruby Scruggs. The energetic auction was anything but silent. Together the ladies raised $1,100 for the UCG Good Works program.

On Sunday, Tina Slocum led an interactive workshop trivia game that had us “galloping” through many lessons learned. Following this active “contest” among the attendees, Sharon Browning, Tia Christopher, and Celia Hofer presented a song “As Long as I have Breath.” To complete the weekend, Christina Pate spoke on “Your Growth Curve.” Christina shared tools to help remove toxic thoughts so we can endure and “Run with Horses” in our unfailing focus on Gods ultimate plan.

The bonds of friendship, laughs and tears shared on this weekend were expressed in a closing hymn called “Daughters in the Lord” by Mark Graham. Many attendees expressed that the weekend was inspiring, relaxing, invigorating and “Just what I needed,” and are already making plans to attend next year!

Tina Slocum, Becky Hornor and Ruby Scruggs