We're back home after a few days in Raleigh, NC, attending the Family Economics Conference with over 1,200 people from 35 states, 3 countries, and 15+ families speaking on panels and workshops. The conference focused on preparing families to thrive in social and economic decline.
We enjoyed: hearing the keynote speakers, listening to some pertinent home-business workshop topics, taking lots of notes, fellowshipping with families we already knew, and being introduced for the first time to friends we had never met who read the blog (oh, that was so much fun!).
Here we are just arriving and striking up a conversation with other attendees:
And here are Sarah, Hannah, and Jonathan ready for some note taking before the beginning keynote session:
Our friends, the Alexander family, were part of one of the panel discussions on agriculture. Sorry for this photo quality as it was zoomed from back in the room which was jammed for this question and answer session:
Below left picture: here I am with a blog reader from Florida who told me she has been reading Mountain Musings since 2006...she was a very nice lurker, and I'm so glad she introduced herself. Thank you, Mrs. Hope! :)
And in the picture to the right is my blog friend, Victoria, who is a very faithful reader and commenter. We finally were able to meet in real life! I loved getting to know Vicky in person, and our families enjoyed having lunch together one day.
We also renewed acquaintance with a family who recently stopped by to worship with us one Sunday. It was good to see them again. Here we are talking after one of the sessions:
When I saw the couple to the left in the main foyer, I went up to Mrs. Miller and said, "You don't know me, but..."
It was so fun to get to meet the parents of a young couple from Illinois who visited our church fellowship back in the summer of 2009. You can read about it here. It's definitely a small world!
And here's the gang chatting a bit with them:
There was also a picnic during the weekend...
...and pizza, too! Here's the girls' table, and the guys are right behind us:
We enjoyed the weekend very much and look forward to putting into practice some of the information we gleaned from the conference.
~Deb
It was a great conference but one of the highlights for our family was meeting the Girotti family!
Victoria
Posted by: victoria | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 12:59 AM
Looks like you had a great time! I hope you're able to make use of what you learnt there.
Posted by: Jo | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 04:58 AM
How neat to meet all those blogging friends. Isn't it wonderful how you can have fellowship with "stangers" who love the Lord too?! Loved seeing all the pictures. Welcome back! :)
Posted by: Chris | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 05:47 PM
Hi Deb!Looks like you all had alot of fun at the conference. Wish we could have gone. Did you walk away with alot of useful info?? I hope you will share some of the highlights of what you learned. Note to self (buy more scarves) I LOVED your scarves! You look great ;)
Posted by: Julie | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 06:24 PM
Deb,
You looked so pretty with your scarves to match your tops.I know you all had a wonderful time at the conference.
God Bless you all
Brenda
Posted by: Brenda S. Perdue | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 06:38 PM
Glad you were able to attend. I sure wish it had worked out for me to go, but, not this time. I also hope you all were able to take home some useful information, things you can put to use in your own "family economic unit". I am SO happy to see this concept being revived and promoted. A return to God's pattern of the family as the social, spiritual, AND economic unit in society will transform our whole culture, and prosper our nation like we've not done since sometime in the late nineteenth century. I plan to order the full lecture series, it is available for preorder from Generations with Vision. Thanks for sharing your "report" and perspective.
Posted by: Nick Jesch | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 09:21 PM
You folks attend some of the neatest conferences. It will be interesting to hear about all you've learned and watch as you put it into practice! :)
Posted by: Jane | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 10:46 PM
I have been so blessed and encouraged from reading your blog. It was such a blessing to meet you and your family! Look forward to seeing you all again.
Blessings,
Michele
Posted by: Michele | Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 11:38 PM
Thank you for sharing about your adventure, complete with lovely pictures. It is a great blessing that you can receive teaching about how to work as a family. It must have been special to see some of your friends on the podium as well!
Posted by: Sherrin Drew | Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 04:28 AM
Nice blog!
We were at the Family Economics Conference as well! What a great treasure trove of information!
Check out our blog post about the conference!
www.mieczkowskis.blogspot.com
Posted by: Jon Mieczkowski | Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 09:33 AM
Looks like an informative conference.
Posted by: Stephanie in MIchigan | Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 09:24 AM