Wow! It has been quite a whirlwind of a week. I am praising God for His hand at work in my heart. If you haven’t seen a lot of my posts recently, last year God laid on my heart something that I had been thinking of for a long time. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to host a conference. In November 2021 when I was flying home (for the first time) from an amazing experience at another conference, I starting writing down my ideas.

An intimate retreat conference in the mountains.

How fun! But who would come to Tucker County, I thought?! I heard that still small voice, “Just trust me”. Trusting God was always easy for me growing up. I had a wonderful childhood, was surrounded by a family who brought me to church, Sunday School and summer camp. We’d go on fun vacations and I always knew God was taking care of us. It wasn’t until Thomas’s dad died six years ago that my thoughts shifted… Looking back on the last six years of our lives, God has carried us through so much. How hard was it to trust that He would take care of me if I just said yes.

I started doing a ton of research.

Figuring out who would be willing to speak. Finding a house big enough for 20 people. When could I fit this into my crazy 2022 schedule. Then it all started falling into place. Not because of my crazy type A, control freak plans, but GOD.

Refresh 2022

The Refresh Conference is somewhere that I prayed every single woman would come and feel God’s purpose in her life. Before I knew it, April 12 was here and my sweet momma and I were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Well not really, but you get it. I wanted everything to be perfect! I truly could not have done it without her, God knew I needed her as a mom. We welcomed these sweet women into the coolest cabin in Canaan Valley and instantly I felt God’s presence.

We laughed. We cried. We felt the spirit of the Living God.

The Lord worked in so many hearts in just the short few days we spent together. We learned about designing things for our business. We learned about showing up for our online audience. We worshiped together. We went on a hike, enjoyed the beautiful mountain air, and even took dip in the hot tub. It was truly the best!!

I didn’t know what to speak on.

So you know when God tells you to do something and then sometimes you’re just left with those thoughts of “what if”. That’s where I was in January when I started to think of what in the world I was going to say. I knew I wanted to host all these Christian women in business, but didn’t have much of an idea on what to speak about. It took me quite a while to piece everything together, but I knew what God wanted me to say. “Trust me” I kept hearing from Him.

It’s amazing to look back at every single speaker’s topic and see how God worked through each of us to piece together a common theme. Faith over fear wins. We can always trust The Lord. His purpose remains. There were several difference circumstances that happened before we all gathered together on the mountain… we thought maybe Refresh 2022 wouldn’t happen… but God!! He made a way when there seemed to be no way.

Refresh 2023

If you’ve made it this far, know this: Our God is powerful and full of life-giving purpose. If you are in need of a community of Christian women who will continue to refresh your soul through true, Godly friendship, keep your eyes open for our plans for next year. It’s going to be so great!!

A quick shoutout to these AMAZING women!! Refresh could not have happened without their help! They were amazing speakers!!!

xoxo,

Zoe

Zoe Evans