Lots of Pictures from NEXT!

I have a few late night minutes in the midst of a crazy, mostly packed, messy, disorganized, in-between house so I'm trying to quickly post my pictures from the NEXT conference before I fall out from total exhaustion. :)

On Saturday I met up with my friends, the Taylors (Rebekah, Abigail, John Paul, and Sam), to join them for our trip to the NEXT conference in Baltimore, MD. The trip up north is chronicled in great detail by Abigail at her blog. I hadn't yet met Candace and Caitlyn (they're twins, in case you're wondering!) and enjoyed getting to know them during our trip.

Rebekah and Candace:

Rebekah was the only one from our group who attended NEXT before, and she had been persistently inviting me and encouraging me to come over the last few months. I'm so glad she did!

Driving through Washington D.C.The drive was filled with chatting and chocolate and just being silly. John Paul and Sam graciously put up with us 5 girls throughout the conference. :)At last we arrived, and, as Abigail details on her blog, we had quite a few parking garage height restriction issues (!), but finally we found a place to park.

Candace:Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel and registered at the conference before the first session began.

The conference was held in the Baltimore Convention Center in downtown Baltimore.

Caitlyn, me, Abigail, Candace, and RebekahThe worship and messages were so rich and taught me more about Jesus Christ's work at the cross, and it's uttermost importance in every aspect of my life. I look forward to writing more about the ways I was challenged through the conference soon.We, along with about 15 other people, gathered in alternating hotel rooms for the meals so we wouldn't have to spend money at restaurants. One morning at breakfast, there were 20 people in a hotel room, and several electric frying pans cooking pancakes, when the electricity in the room went out due to using too many outlets! The hotel security warned that the cooking utensils would be confiscated if it occured again. :-S

Candace and Caitlyn washing dishes in the bathroom sink while Sam dries them: Rebekah washing a crock pot in the bath tub! One afternoon, between sessions, we ventured out to the Inner Harbor. A man doing magic tricks for a crowd along the busy city streets:We walked to Federal Hill, which had an American flag and several war monuments.

Candace, Patrick, Sam, John Paul, Rebekah, me, and Abigail on Federal Hill overlooking the Inner HarborI don't exactly remember how the following silly picture occurred. Abigail said it well at her blog:

"Meredith and I were going to get an innocent picture together, but JP and Patrick felt left out. The result? The man-purse! Mercy. They're doing that way too well. Sam didn't have a place to put his Bible after the conference session that morning, so he just carried it everywhere. Said he felt like Mary Bennet! So here he is being a Mary Bennet, pious in the midst of frivolity:"

Wedding pictures on the hill
On Memorial Day, we went back to the Inner Harbor to have lunch at Five Guys.
Chowin' downCandace and I

I had no idea Rebekah was hiding behind Abigail and me until I was flipping through my pictures!

Each morning, we gathered in "community groups" to discuss the previous day's messages, as well as do our morning devotions. Fortunately, Caitlyn and I got to be in the same group, and the young men in our group had a lot of deep insights into the scriptures we studied. I gleaned a lot from our group discussions.

My community group
Abigail and I The conference itself was incredible, and the time spent with dear, like-minded friends was priceless!