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I had been to a couple of the previous year conferences and always enjoyed them, but didn’t really get to know anyone outside my own fellowship.  I guess because there were so many women you tended to stick with your own fellowship.  With these regional events I don’t know if it was the smaller number of people or the feeling of being invited into someones home, but there was an intimacy not felt in the larger conference.  There was an intimacy with your sisters in the Lord, but with God as well, which was fitting with the Presence of God theme.

I had the fortune of attending all three of these regional events so I was able to hear all of the teachings that God gave Gloria Cotten.  Each one was unique and inspirational.  I would encourage you to get hold of the audio when it becomes available.  You will be glad that you did.

Gloria spoke about living in, praying, and seeking God’s presence.  She related areas of her own life where God has transformed her with His presence.  And she prayed.  She prayed for God’s healing love, saving grace, and his transforming power for the women present.  And God answered Gloria’s prayers in so many ways…ways that seem miraculous to us, and everyday to God.

On the last night of the final event I gave testimony of how God healed my back injury (through a word of knowledge and prayer at the first regional event).  I would like to give you the opportunity to give God the glory for your miracle and post your story here on the Wellspring web if God met you at the Wellspring Conferences this year.

Email your story  to wwprayer01@gmail and include your phone number so I can call and ask questions if I need to clarify anything.  If God answered your prayer or did something for you at Wellspring, stand up and speak for Him.  Let me know.

Karen Sleeth

Karen Sleeth has lived in North Carolina for 26 years. She shares her home with two kitties who cause her to laugh every day. She firmly believes that a merry heart does good like a medicine and some days overdoses.

Here I am again, still savoring Psalm 37.  This time I am enamored with the word “delight.”

Delight –

1.  Extreme pleasure or satisfaction:  joy

2.  Something that gives great pleasure; to take great pleasure; to give keen enjoyment; to give joy or satisfaction; to please greatly.

What a wonderful word!  This is no mamby, pamby word with a definition that includes terms like extreme, great, keen, please greatly, joy and satisfaction!

In verse 4 of Psalm 37, it says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Take extreme pleasure (or satisfaction) in the Lord!  Wow!  Do we even know how to do that?

I must confess that most of the time I do not.  Most of the time I am so weighed down with responsibilities, obligations and the cares of this life that it’s difficult to find delight in much of anything.  However, when I remember what He has done for me, how He has saved me, rescued me, set my feet firmly upon the rock of Jesus Christ and I read the promises in His Word like this one,

“The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.  The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food at the proper time.  You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.  The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.  The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.  The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.  My mouth will speak in praises of the Lord.  Let every creature praise His holy name forever and ever.”

~Psalm 145: 13-21

When I meditate on these things, when I discipline my mind to dwell on the things of the Lord rather than the worrisome, burdensome things of this world, the things I really can’t do anything about – then I am filled with the delight (joy) of my salvation and I take delight in the One who gave that to me.  Worthy is the Lamb!

Come away with us to Wellspring at Rockfish!  It is a wonderful opportunity to delight yourself in your Precious Savior.

Saundra Littleton

Saundra Littleton is in charge of hospitality for Wellspring, which is appropriate since she has a gift for hospitality. If Saundra could give one piece of advice, it would be to put Jesus first in everything you do! Submit yourself to Him wholly. Delight in Him, your Savior, your friend, the Lover of your soul, your Priest and Intercessor, your King, and out of this will come blessing, strength, health, love, peace, endurance, wisdom, discernment, everything you could ever want or need to walk through this life in victory and glorifying God.

We are not isolated, autonomous individuals.  Just like a single stone dropped into a pool disturbs the entire pool with waves, our lives affect more lives than we will ever realize.  Mom and Dad have had a lot of years to disturb a lot of pools.

During the recent Joyce Meyer Womens’ Conference in St. Louis, she confessed an area where God had convicted her and Dave.  The details are not important but the gist is that she and Dave were involved in a typical conversation between spouses or friends about acquaintances.  God convicted them that if those people had heard the conversation they would be hurt and that instead it would have been better to pray for them and their situation.  I love Joyce for her honesty and transparency – God spoke to me from her confession.  She disturbed my pool.

I love watching people.  In my mind I check out fashion, make-up application, body size, and actions.  When I got to the airport coming home from the Conference I began my people watching feast as I waited in the check-in line.   Right in front of me was a man about 6′ 8″ tall and extremely obese.  I was fascinated by the roll of fat on the back of his neck and the size of his hands.

God nailed me!  He spoke to me from his love and compassion and reminded me how difficult it is to get around when you are large, how most parts of your body hurt, how insecure you feel, especially at the airport when you know people are hoping you won’t have the seat assignment near them.  I believe I had insight into God’s love and compassion for him.  I immediately began to pray for this man.  You know what?  My attitude toward him changed, too!

My people watching experiences were incredible.  I prayed for a mother whose three out of control children had her frazzled trying to control them, herd them onto the plane, keep track of luggage, and ignore snide comments and the invisible darts from surrounding eyes.  The children’s obnoxious behavior was no longer irritating, rather I felt compassion for the woman whose circumstances were unknown to me and her fellow passengers.   Were they her children?  Why was she traveling with them alone?  Was she heading home after the funeral of a loved one or had she just taken charge of the children of a sibling who had died.  Had her husband just been deployed and she was sad at facing life as a single parent again.  There are so many possibilities to feel compassion for people rather than anger because they disturb our peace.

What do you see when you walk through the grocery store?  How about when you go to the your workplace?  It is easier to pray for and feel God’s love and compassion for a stranger than it is for a person whose bad attitude has just caused you to rewrite a report, pay more for an item, or arrive late at a function?

This is new to me, but it is exciting.  God gives us a choice and I choose compassion over criticism, loving over judgment, and  prayer over gossip.  In short, I choose to be more like Christ. I think this is what he meant in this scripture:

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

~John 13:35

How about you? Care to disturb a few pools along the way with me?

Consider attending the final Wellspring Regional Conference on God’s presence. It is scheduled for October 8 & 9 at Rockfish Church in Raeford. There is still plenty of time to register and you still have a few days to enter the contest to win an all expense paid weekend to the conference.

Karen Sleeth

Karen Sleeth has lived in North Carolina for 26 years. She shares her home with two kitties who cause her to laugh every day. She firmly believes that a merry heart does good like a medicine and some days overdoses.

The nun replies that she was traveling at 40 mph, the stated speed limit.  The officer, understanding her confusion, explains that the speed limit is 70.  The 40 sign she saw was the interstate highway number.  “Ohh!”  The driver responds.

“What is wrong with them?” the officer asks, referring to the other nuns.

“We just got off Rt. 170,” the first nun replies.

You see, it is important to understand signs.  Not understanding them can be scary, even dangerous.  God sometimes uses signs to guide us.

How do you know a sign is from God?

If it is from God :

• It will not contradict God’s word
• It will not contradict the nature of Christ (God’s word in the flesh)

I also believe that God will always leave room for faith.  He is pleased with our faith and provides opportunity for us to grow and show our faith.

Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.”  If we know our shepherd, his nature and his word we can know the signs he send us.

Staying within God’s presence is a way to help you recognize his voice and know the signs he sends you. Consider attending the final Wellspring Regional Conference on God’s presence.  It is scheduled for October 8 & 9 at Rockfish Church in Raeford.  There is still plenty of time to register and you still have a few days to enter the contest to win an all expense paid weekend to the conference.

Karen Sleeth

Karen Sleeth has lived in North Carolina for 26 years. She shares her home with two kitties who cause her to laugh every day. She firmly believes that a merry heart does good like a medicine and some days overdoses.

Fret is mentioned three times.  In verse 1, “Do not fret because of evil men. . . .;” in verse 7, “. . . do not fret when men succeed in their ways,” and in verse 8, “. .  do not fret – it leads only to evil.”

Fret is defined as:

• To suffer or cause to suffer emotional strain: become irritated: worry, vex.
• • to eat into or wear away: corrode
  • fray
  • to cause by wearing away
• to affect as if by gnawing or biting: grate
• agitate, ripple

Is there any wonder why God has commanded us to “fret not?”  I just thought fret was a cute little word to define a minor worry or anxiety.  Well, first of all, there is no such thing as a minor worry or anxiety at least not according to this word “fret.” What a destructive thing!  Without trusting in the Lord, this is what we are left with.

I have been pondering why there are so many incidents of  anxiety attacks today especially in women.  Also,  reflux, obesity, high blood pressure, and many other conditions that can be connected with anxiety and worry.  Could it have anything to do with this word “fret?”  I know it does in my life.  I will never see this word the same again.  Knowing it’s true meaning has given me pause to reconsider where my level of trust is in the Lord.

In verse 7, the Lord commands us again, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”  Be is defined as:

• to have reality; to exist, live
• to have, keep or occupy a space,  situation or position
• to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted

I really like that last part of the definition don’t you?  Isn’t that what we all desire, “to remain unmolested, undisturbed or uninterrupted?” Especially in our everyday relationship with Christ, our families, the family of God and in our work places.  However, this does not appear to be one of those things that just magically happens.  We must be proactive in the process of  “being still before the Lord and fretting not.”

I will leave you with Psalm 37:3-6 and if you haven’t read the whole psalm lately – please do!  It will encourage your heart.

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this:  He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

The Lord desires only good for His beloved ones!  Thank you, Lord!

Remember to enter the contest for an expense paid weekend to the Raeford Conference.  Check the contest page to see the final list of prizes.

Saundra Littleton

Saundra Littleton is in charge of hospitality for Wellspring, which is appropriate since she has a gift for hospitality. If Saundra could give one piece of advice, it would be to put Jesus first in everything you do! Submit yourself to Him wholly. Delight in Him, your Savior, your friend, the Lover of your soul, your Priest and Intercessor, your King, and out of this will come blessing, strength, health, love, peace, endurance, wisdom, discernment, everything you could ever want or need to walk through this life in victory and glorifying God.

When I was a teenager he and I would load our gear, the dog, and Gram into a rusty Jeep Wagoneer almost every weekend in the summer and head to the Potomac River. Gram would sit in the Jeep and read or sew while we jumped in a little boat and headed up the river looking for a good fishing spot.

Pooka mostly brought home catfish, bottom feeders that are easy to catch. Then one day the line twitched, a manly fight ensued, and he reeled in a huge brown trout. He had finally achieved angler superstar status.  He reeked with pride.

Pooka stated it was time for Gram to memorialize the event with a picture of him and the trout on his  line. If he had not been senseless with excitement, he would have recalled Gram’s photography reputation.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t focus a picture; it was that she had a sort of framing-ADD (attention deficit disorder). It always seemed to possess her in that nanosecond before she snapped the picture. As her finger lowered on the button she would see a tree, rock, or flower that HAD to be in the photo.

That’s what happened with the trout. As her finger lowered on the button, she saw a tree and shifted the camera slightly left. If you are 29 like me (ahem), you recall that back in the late ‘60’s, when you took a photo you had to wait until the entire roll was shot before you could mail it off to be developed.  Then you had to wait several weeks for the results.  By the time you got to examine the picture, the moment was past and you could not retake the photo.

When Gram’s roll of film came back, Pooka was anxious to see and show his superstar status. He had told everyone about that huge brown trout. Gram shuffled through the stack. There was the beautiful tree, there stood Pooka, a proud smile on his face, there was his stretched out arm, and there was … no hand, no line, and no fish. Gram had cut off Pooka’s hand and fish for the sake of a tree.   Then Gram pointed out that you can see could see the shadow of the fish on the ground!  You could see how big the fish was by his shadow!  Pooka, who was born on Groundhog’s day was not impressed by this shadow. He looked at Gram, shook his head and walked out of the room.

Pooka wasn’t a superstar in fishing, but he was in my life and the lives of his family.  He was not perfect but he loved his family and he loved God.  He died young, age 64, a month before my sister’s first child was born.  And yet my three nephews all talk about Pooka as if they knew him and he is a part of their lives, as he has continues to be a part of mine.

What made Pooka a superstar in life?  My grandfather did not know a stranger, he always had a kind word for others, he grew up in a time of racial injustice and yet he did not see color, he was an imposing man and yet I often saw him brought to tears reading in the papers about the passing of a friend, he often told a little fat girl that she was pretty, he trusted and loved his Savior above all else, he knew that he was fallible and that God was not, and he trusted and leaned on God’s grace.   My Pooka loved God and he loved his neighbor as himself.  I pray that I can leave that kind of superstar legacy.

Remember to enter the contest for an expense paid weekend to the Raeford Conference (and other prizes).

Karen Sleeth

Karen Sleeth has lived in North Carolina for 26 years. She shares her home with two kitties who cause her to laugh every day. She firmly believes that a merry heart does good like a medicine and some days overdoses.

I found that the really distressing part of an ER visit is not just your concern for the person you are with but also observing the human suffering that parades itself before you.  Heartbreaking ailments and injuries, people in pain and despair.  The thought that came to me as I observed was that Father God  never intended for us to suffer in our bodies and minds in this way.  His plan for mankind was so far removed from this picture I saw before me.  I began to feel some of His sadness for these precious ones whose bodies were undergoing the degenerative death process that was initiated by the curse after the fall of man.

I began to pray, silently, for those I saw, asking Father to help them, heal them, and save them.

Oh, the redeeming blood of Jesus!  The love and concern for us, that He would send His precious Son to pay the price for us!  That we would be with Him, forever in Paradise, redeemed from the curse and living the life He had always intended for us to have.  No pain, sorrow, sickness, tears or death, living in a glorified  body untouched by the curse of death.  Living forever with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

…endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
~Rom. 5:3b-5

We are a people of Hope.  He did not leave us hopeless nor helpless. In the time we must live upon this earth, He has given us His very presence in the form of the Holy Spirit to live in us, comfort us, teach us, guide us into all truth and to help us in our weaknesses.   He gives us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
~ Gal. 5:22

How could we not love and trust a God who has so lavishly bestowed upon us and in us this marvelous part of Himself?  As precious and unique as the Holy Spirit is to each one of us individually, we also have the wonderful opportunity to share in Him with each other, corporately, at the next Wellspring conference in RockFish.

Please come and be a part of what He is doing in each of our lives. The Lord will meet you there in glorious music and praise, and in a special word He will have for each of us through His servant, Gloria Cotten; in prophecy and personal ministry; in fellowship and love and surely in ways we have not yet expected!  Remember to enter the contest for an expense paid weekend to the Raeford Conference (and other prizes).

Saundra Littleton

Saundra Littleton is in charge of hospitality for Wellspring, which is appropriate since she has a gift for hospitality. If Saundra could give one piece of advice, it would be to put Jesus first in everything you do! Submit yourself to Him wholly. Delight in Him, your Savior, your friend, the Lover of your soul, your Priest and Intercessor, your King, and out of this will come blessing, strength, health, love, peace, endurance, wisdom, discernment, everything you could ever want or need to walk through this life in victory and glorifying God.

• Conference registration (which includes dinner Saturday night)
• One night lodging at an area hotel
• $50 (can be used to cover meals not provided)

If you don’t win the G  R A N D    P R I Z E, you could win one of the many other prizes.

So how do you enter?  Visit our Contest page, read the rules and enter the contest.

The regional events have been an incredible blessing to many women.  Many women whom I know personally have had their lives transformed by the hand of God.  Won’t you consider coming to Raeford and letting God transform your life?  If you cannot come to Raeford, please follow our prayer Tweets (on the bottom right side of the blog pages or subscribe to wwprayertweets) and pray with us for the next conference.