Join us for a day of celebrating God's love and supporting each other as women as we learn about topics such as healthy living, deepening your prayer life, managing stress and anxiety with your teen, beginning a fitness journey, and more! Sessions will be offered multiple times during the day. If one session is filled, please scroll to the next time spot and make your selection. If all sessions fill, we will open more spaces!
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 - 9:00 a.m.-- Worship in sanctuary with Arise Band
9:00 – 9:50 a.m.-- Keynote Speaker--Nicole Unice
Door prizes #1-5
10:00 – 10:50 a.m.--- Breakout #1 (pre-chosen at registration)
10:50 – 11:20 a.m.-- Break/Vendor Fair
11:20 - 12:10 p.m.-- Breakout #2 (pre-chosen at registration)
12:10 - 1:10 p.m.-- Lunch/Vendors
Door Prizes #6-10 at 1:00 p.m.
1:10 - 2:00 p.m.--Breakout #3 (pre-chosen at registration)
2:10-3:00 p.m.--Breakout #4 (pre-chosen at registration)
3:00-3:30 p.m.--Break/Vendor Fair
3:30 p.m.--Final Door prizes drawn in sanctuary
3:45-4:15 p.m.--Closing Keynote--Nicole Unice
4:15-4:30 p.m. - end notes Pam Cross
MENU
Box Lunch
Chicken Salad on a Roll
Roast Beef & Swiss Cheese on a Roll
Tuna Salad
Smithfield Ham on a Roll
Pimento Cheese
Turkey & Provolone on Wheat Sandwhich Bread
We are excited to have as our Keynote Speaker Nicole Unice, to speak on Finding Joy Always. Once Nicole finishes we will break into our sessions, enjoy a delicious lunch, and finish our day with sessions and visits to the vendor fair.
Finding Joy Always
Bio: Nicole brings 20 years of leadership and counseling experience to her work as a coach and communicator. Nicole’s passion is facilitating environments of safety and vulnerability so that individuals and communities can courageously identify obstacles keeping them from maximum potential.
In her books and videos, Nicole is passionate about making transformation attainable and accessible to people in all stages of life. As a coach, Nicole brings clarity and courage for individuals and teams as they pursue a preferred future.
As a speaker, Nicole brings both wit and wisdom to the platform, with an honest and vulnerable approach that appeals to both faith and leadership environments alike.
CONFERENCE SESSIONS
THROUGH THE ROOF! How to make sure God hears your prayers.
with Pam Grumbles
Session Description: Okay, which one are you?
Prayer – a complex subject, yet simple (but hard). Puritan writer Ezekiel Hopkins wrote, “If you but whisper your prayer God will hear it.”
Jesus taught us to pray.
Does God hear my prayer?
In our session we will explore several facets of prayer and learn about different types of prayer.
We will encourage each other as we learn to pray more effectively for those around us, including our children and grandchildren.
Bio: Pam, along with her husband, Mark, served as a missionary for 35 years with the International Mission Board with most of her time in Costa Rica. There she served in various roles as student evangelist, Seminary professor, language coach, mentor to new missionaries and as Treasurer and business administrator. She and Mark also served in El Salvador and Colombia. Since retiring in 2015, she works part-time as a Spanish/English interpreter in courts and hospitals in the central Virginia area.
Pam is the mother of three and grandmother to eight (with another on the way!). Pam is from Franklin, Virginia and now resides in Mechanicsville. She is a member of Cool Spring Baptist Church where she helps teach the Bible to women. Pam wants to encourage young women, in particular, to learn to rely on God and follow His leading in our complicated world.
Story Circles: How to Construct a Great Story for Connection to Others
with Beth Saunders
Session Description: Are you looking for a way to drive deeper connections with people? Do you believe that the power of a good story can bring people from all walks of life together, but you aren’t sure how to harness and construct that story? Then this is the session for you! Get hands on training and experience on how story circles can help you generate meaningful connections to others, and you may even learn a little more about yourself.
This session is comprised of small group story telling practice, so please come knowing that you will be placed into small circles of attendees and will be asked to actively participate in your circles.
Bio: Beth Saunders is Vice President, Director of Operations and New Business at LewisMedia Partners, a small, but fast - growing, ad agency that provides strategic and paid media direction to clients. Weaving together a story, whether in data or strategy, helps her clients to better understand their outcomes and to comprehend the ins and outs of a complex and fast-paced industry. Beth coaches her teams to become not just good presenters, but good story tellers, because it is much easier to gain attention and trust through a well-crafted narrative.
Practicing Prayer: Finding Joy in His Presence
with Cindy Shufflebarger
Session Description: Do you ever wonder if prayer makes a difference? Does your prayer life lack focus and consistency? Do you get distracted or bored when you pray? If so, join this session to discuss practical ways to cultivate a prayer life you’ll crave. Learn to transform your prayers into a vital part of your daily life and enjoy the benefits of a closer connection with our source of joy.
Bio: Cindy is a native of Hanover and currently lives in Ashland with her husband and three kids. She’s the founder of P23 Retreat, a nonprofit that serves grieving parents. She’s also an author and a Bible study girl who believes in the power of prayer. Grateful to be loved by an extraordinary God, she longs to see evidence of His presence each day. She finds Him in scripture, prayer, and on display in His beautiful creation. An adventurer at heart, Cindy loves to travel, try new things, and follow Jesus through the unexpected blessings of this sometimes crazy life. She hopes to encourage others to find peace, joy, and fullness in Him.
Love Them Well: Parenting the Tough Teenage Years
with Katlin Sisler and Jennifer Diehl, LCSW
Katlin's Bio: Katlin Sisler is a Licensed Professional Counselor and owner of New Season Counseling and Consulting
in Mechanicsville. Katlin focuses on supporting teen girls and women seeking the truth of who they are, no matter what their past has convinced them. Katlin is also the Mental Health Ministry Coordinator at her Church, Lifepointe Christian Church, where she serves as a mental health resource for church staff, and an advocate and educator for members of the church.
Jennifer's Bio: I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of direct clinical experience with individuals, families and groups in hospital and community-based behavioral healthcare settings. I also have extensive experience in the field of Positive Behavior Support Facilitation. I have a Master of Social Work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Longwood College. I completed my Masters level internships at John Randolph Medical Center and Hanover County Community Services Board. I have wide-ranging experience in assessment & diagnostics, treatment, case management, service planning, crisis intervention and community education. I continuously strive to foster positive working relationships with local community entities including schools, courts, law enforcement, healthcare providers and other service-related agencies. As a lifelong resident of Hanover County, I am privileged to continue offering quality services to the residents of Hanover and its surrounding communities.
I provide a broad range of counseling services to pre-teens, adolescents and adults with mental health, substance abuse and/or intellectual disabilities. These services are offered to individuals and/or families from a person-centered, strengths based perspective. I utilize various theoretical frameworks including cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused, psychodynamic and family systems therapies. The fundamental goal of services is to promote personal growth, success and overall wellness through a collaborative working relationship.
In my spare time, I enjoy hanging out with my husband and playing with our cocker spaniel. My 21-year old daughter attends Randolph Macon College and often comes home to visit. When not working, I can be found running, watching professional soccer or relaxing with a good book.
Finding Joy in Every Season of the Soul
with Jill Baughan
Bio: Jill Baughan is an author, podcaster, speaker and joy seeker who helps people find joy, no matter what else is happening in life. Born in Bluffton, Indiana, she first discovered that joy and tough times can coexist when she learned, while riding the Tilt-A-Whirl at the annual Street Fair, that it was indeed possible for a human being to laugh and throw up at the same time.
Jill is no stranger to painful experiences, such as the sudden death of her father when she was ten, and a long battle with infertility as an adult. Her first book, A Hope Deferred: A Couple’s Guide to Coping with Infertility, chronicles her journey, and offers suggestions for couples traveling the same difficult road.
Even though the challenges of life have changed her, however, her sense of playfulness is alive and well. “Though there are times when part of me mourns what’s lost, sighs at what’s here and trembles a bit at what’s to come,” she says, “I still want to hop onto a Harley, swing like Tarzan from a vine, and get into a little mischief.”
With this in mind, then, she wrote her second book, Born To Be Wild: Rediscover the Freedom of Fun, to help women unleash that power of play in their own lives. Her message here gives the reader a new ability to say “yes” to opportunities for exuberance.
Since the publication of Born To Be Wild, Jill’s life has included multiple surgeries, breast cancer and family crises. Because of these difficulties, however, (and remembering that lesson from the Tilt-A-Whirl) she has discovered new ways to find joy in the middle tough times, and was thus motivated to start her podcast, “Find Joy…No Matter What” in January 2020.
As a frequent speaker, she loves to inspire audiences with humor, depth and practical ways to find joy no matter what life is like right now.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Purdue University, then a Master of Arts degree in Composition and Rhetoric from Virginia Commonwealth University, Jill spent 30 years as a writing instructor at VCU.
Paper Crafts
with Sandy Weakley
Session Description: Come and make two super cute paper craft projects!
You can have fun making and then the joy of sharing your projects with others.
You'll make....
• Paper sleeve that holds three decorated Hershey Nuggets with a cute tag.
• Mini Coffee Cup Holder with coffee cup you can fill with your own candy, small gift, etc.
An Extra Measure of Grace
with Pam Cross
Session Description: Join me as we share those times where God's grace overwhelmingly carried us through the rough times, the hurt and at loss of what to do. When God's grace was made known, and he brought beauty and joy from the ashes.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made known in your weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Bio: Pam is the chorus teacher at Oak Knoll Middle School and has taught chorus for 31 years, she has also served as Minister of Music at several churches in the Mechanicsville/Richmond area, currently serving as Associate Worship Leader at Cool Springs Baptist Church.
She has three wonderful children and 6 delightful grandchildren, enjoys running, reading and playing the piano.
Joy in your Temple – Why do We Chase Transformation
with Vicki Williams
Session Description: Let’s take a look together at how we see ourselves. Do we compare ourselves to others, to who we used to be, or to what others think we should be? What if we saw ourselves the way God seesus, perfectly and wonderfully made? Let’s take a look and see what lenses we should really be looking through to see ourselves. Can we make PEACE with our bodies, CHOOSE to take Joy in our temple, and STOP CHASING societal transformation? Together we will make vision boards chasing transformation from the inside out! Let’s explore and see!
Bio: "I am a pediatric Occupational Therapist by day and I’m blessed to get to work with babies from birth to three years of age for Hanover County Early Intervention. I love working with babies and helping their families feel empowered when helping their children with their overall development.
In the evenings I’m blessed to do something else I love! I teach group fitness at Atlee Station Family YMCA in Mechanicsville, VA. I am a certified group fitness instructor through American Council on Exercise (ACE), with specialty certifications in Zumba, Zumba toning, Aqua Zumba, Pound, Piyo, Soul fusion, HIIT STEP, and Tabata boot camp. I use a variety of group and individual fitness activities to help people find what they love to do to get moving, but most importantly help them find ways to stay active. My motto is 'We’re all in this together,' because we really help each other to keep moving and stay accountable. We all want to improve our health or stay healthy.
My main goal is to help you to love yourself the way you are RIGHT NOW, perfectly created by God. My second goal is to help you explore why we feel the need to chase transformation from the outside instead of from the inside. We are all different and what works for one may not work for another. My philosophy is “Fitness is not always about being inspired by someone else, sometimes you may be the one inspiring others."