You just illustrated beautifully that prayer is always *the* first line of defense, not the backup plan. God is great, God is good, God is Almighty and eternal. Amen.

Something you might want to consider for next year, if you didn’t do it this year, is gather a group of believers to pray over the fairgrounds as soon as you have access to the site. Do it every morning you are there, and have a team available to pray for specific needs that arise during the conference. Prayer and the Word of God are our offensive weapons in spiritual battle. Your armor protected you, and helped you to stand, but your prayer defended you and helped you to fight!

We got caught outside in a microburst on July 4th a few years ago. They're terrifying and the damage done was crazy. Large mature trees were uprooted, tents destroyed. We're only an hour from the HOA conference in VA, but my favorite homesteaders are all out at yours!

My husband and I attended and I can say it was life changing for us in many ways. As a person who has been a part of teams working to put on events, I was impressed with how well things went for a first time gathering of this size. There is never going to be a perfect event, there will always be things that are outside of your control. Clearly you and your team did an amazing job overall! I am very excited to hear you elaborate about connecting people in their home towns and communities next year! I think this is a wonderful idea and something I’ve wished existed. We are nearing retirement and although my heart and spirit has always had a longing for ‘farm life’ we are doing what we can now with the acre we have and we appreciate the many ways you’ve been a big part of that journey. Blessings to you.

My husband and I came with our two young children. It was amazing, inspiring and soul soothing for us. We already bought our tickets for next year. We are from Western Washington and thrilled to have this opportunity so close to home.

I was a vendor, there all day, and the heat wasn’t even something that ever came to mind lol! It was such a beautiful couple of days. I can’t wait for this year!

This is amazing Melissa. Thank you for sharing! I got to briefly meet you and you signed my Everything Worth Preserving book and I can’t wait to see you again next year! I’m bringing more books for you to sign next year! 😂😁

Seek and you will find... Seek good you will find it! Seek bad, and you will find it! Gratitude affects attitude 💝

There is quite a bit of gold in this podcast. Thank you for sharing the pain and prayer experience; the Father is so merciful!

So grateful for you and for putting on the conference. I loved getting to meet you and learned a lot!

Love it! Thank you for sharing. I’m already checking into it for next year. As I build this “Modern Homestead” here in Alaska.

Prayer is the number one thing for events as well as everything else. We get micro bursts like this I IL all the time. Every single state in our country has tornadoes at one time or another. God is so GREAT!

My husband and I went, and besides it being the first time in years we got to spend so much time together away from our kids, we very much had a motivational time. Great work.

Yes, you always know something amazing is going to happen when everything seemingly goes wrong. Our faith keeps us standing as God takes over the battle. And His mercy over our stubbornness is pure love. What a great example of perseverance and faith. Thank you so much for this conference! It was amazing and I’ll be back next year! ♥️ BTW I’m the one who’s best friend drove from another state to surprise me and come to the conference with me. ❤ It was nice to meet you in person finally! Hugs 🤗

That was our VBS theme this year. The armor of God!

Really beautiful sharing. It sounds like it was a fabulous experience despite some opportunities for mastery. I enjoyed this podcast, and it's very, very rare that i listen to podcasts. Thanks, Melissa. ❤

I worked for an event company some years ago and I sure can relate to the surprises! It does sound like an amazing event though! Hope to attend a future event

I live in cda and terre is my favorite coffee place ❤ I wish i could have gone, but I dont have a homestead at this point in my life. Sounds like an amazing experience

Aww you let go of the control and you handed it to a higher power so than you were given the strength you needed ❤

BEAUTIFUL MESSAGE! GOD BLESS

Sorry I could not make it this year. I have heard some good things. I had actually heard about the tornado...really a miracle how it will just leave things as they are. Those people that were complaining will most likely be moving back to the city soon me thinks. Having organized things similar to this, I realized that you can never make everyone happy. Thanks for sharing.

The conference was soo fun.. but it was amazing just how many people came late or just before a speaker. Please please people. Don't come after the conference has started and expect front row parking! That front row was claimed at 5 am!

Glad there is finally a conference out West, now we need one for the southwest part of the USA. Congrats!

Sounds like the devil is trying his best to take you down! But he is not going to be successful! I know when things start going wrong, we want to give up, but just like you, I have learned to pray about everything and every situation to get me through. During a hard time in my life I found your videos and felt like you were a blessing! Glad you are feeling much better!

Some things to consider. 1. Coffee is dehydrating, and can make a migraine worse. If this happens again, I recommend drinking a lot of water. And if you need caffeine, drink something that won’t be dehydrating, while also drinking a lot of water. Staying hydrated is important. 2. If you are feeling unwell before going on stage, you can ask the audience to wait 5 minutes before you begin. Whether they like it or not, they need to wait and respect that you need more time. Don’t worry about what the audience thinks if you need a few minutes to take a break. It could be good to practice exactly what to say to the audience to ask them to wait, for if this happens again. 3. Also, wearing sunglasses can help with a migraine. You can keep a pair in tour car, it could help.

PS the ones with the negative attitude / easily discouraged will never make it as homesteaders. Not until they build up their resilience and faith in God

Did the weekend change like you mentioned? To the weekend before?

First!