| Thanks for asking, Doyle! It was really nice.We got there late on Tuesday and missed the evening event with The Talleys but I'm sure that was great! We also missed the night service on Wednesday because we were so tired from the trip and getting there early on Wednesday for competition. Willis Canada sang that night and I wasn't familiar with the night speaker, Mitchell Tolle. There was a lot of good competition, and they kept things moving along well. They had at least one lady in her 80s that competed. I did not win for my category (Female Vocal Solo)...there were 9 of us total, one of the most highly competed areas. I wasn't totally happy with how I did, but I gave it my best shot. There's a video on my Facebook page if anyone is interested in listening to it. There was a wide variety of types of music, including a gentleman who played the bagpipes and wore a kilt. Not usually seen in any COG venue. LOLThey gave out lots of monetary door prizes, and that was a popular thing. The final door prize was for $500! One of my favorite moments was when they honored all the veterans. They had a special song and invited all the veterans to come to the front, and we gave them a standing ovation.The Gatlinburg Convention Center was a great venue in my opinion. Very clean and easy to get to the events. And if you are healthy enough to do a lot of walking, there is a lot of shopping and fun things to do there. One drawback was that you had to pay for parking anywhere downtown. We drove round and round the first night looking for parking, & my husband finally dropped me off in front of Five Guys so I could grab food for us to eat in the room. I might have opted for a closer motel had I realized the parking situation. It is a pretty expensive event, with the $69 registration/each to walk in the door (but includes all the evening services and competitions.) Adding renting a car, getting a hotel room, and food, it adds up quickly. I am pretty sure this is why there are not many people outside southeastern USA that come and compete, which is unfortunate. But it was a pretty fun event, and it seems to be something a lot of people look forward to. There were lots of state ABs and directors/youth directors there, and I thought it was great that they supported it so well. The event was extremely well planned, organized and thought out, and I'm sure a lot of hard work went into its planning. Kudos to James Cossey, his assistant Judy Pyeatt, and their staff who made this happen. Y'all done good!I did have someone back stage make kind of a rude comment to me about being on the ACTS board. Someone whose name I've never seen here...that was disappointing, but oh well. Such is life.Another favorite moment involved honoring the couple who had been married the longest. There were actually two couples who had been married 66 years, 10 months, with only one week's difference between the two couples. They wound up honoring both couples and giving them door prizes. But the reason this was special was personal. When they asked the man what his name was, he said, Roy Burroughs from SC. I almost fell off my chair.In 1961, Bro Burroughs preached at the Snowd Branch Campmeeting in Washington NC (a small local campmeeting but the longest continuing Pentecostal campmeeting in the US.) My parents attended this campmeeting, and I would have been only a few years old. My daddy recorded a message on his reel to reel tape recorder that Bro Burroughs preached called Holiness: External, Internal, and Eternal. At the end of the service, a message was given out in tongues and an interpretation in which the Holy Spirit made it plain that this message was from God and on point. My parents talked about this message for years, and I listened to it as a child and as an adult. My sister later copied to a cassette tape, and when I listened to it as an adult, I expected to hear a lot of legalism and clothesline preaching. But this was not the case. It was a very well thought out sermon about what true holiness is, and it remains the best message I've ever heard on the subject. I was amazed to find out Bro Burroughs was still alive, and of course, after the event ended, I had to speak to him. I introduced myself and told him and his family what I've just told you. They were pretty amazed, too. He seemed very humble and he sadly said no one ever asked him to preach anymore. He is 88 years old now. It really blessed me to meet him and tell him this story about how much his sermon had impacted and blessed my family for years. Never underestimate how much your ministry can bless someone else!Well, that is probably more information than you wanted, but thought I would share with you... If you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name |