Where do I begin to tell the story of the most unique conference God has ever given me the honor to speak for? Most who read this memoir will know why this conference was so special, but for those who do not, I must tell the story. Cindy Eldridge is the beloved Pastor’s wife of New Life Covenant Church. I know Cindy from speaking for this conference the previous year and I had the privilege to pray with her to discern if I were to be the speaker for this year. Cindy and I quickly agreed that all we both wanted was God’s perfect will, yet even in June neither of us were confident we knew what that was. We committed to pray together and set the matter right at the feet of Jesus. On August 8th I received an email from Cindy which read, “Hey Sister!  The Lord has spoken! You are to come and bring us “made for New Life” messages and I am so excited!

On Monday, October 6th Cindy went home to be with her Lord, just shy of three weeks before the Sister’s Conference.  I have to say - as much as this rocked the world of so many people, it did not take the Lord by surprise. It is times like these that  I share the words ministered to me by my Pastor from California, GL Johnson, “God could have prevented this but He did not, and the one thing I know for certain is that God makes NO mistakes!” This is a Truth that if we grasp and hold onto, we can and will make it to the other side of the pain.

In short order the Retreat Committee, led by Jennifer Stanley, decided the Sister’s Conference would go on, simply because Cindy would not have had it any other way!  Jennifer explained to me that they wanted to open Friday night with a tribute to Cindy and end the session with the message I would bring. The tribute was beautiful, beginning with a video of Cindy’s life followed by the significance of the “pearl” in Cindy’s life. Mandy shared with us how a pearl is formed and from which it comes. I honestly cannot tell which was more amazing - the story of the pearl or the storyteller. Mandy, you delivered one of the most anointed parables I have ever heard anyone speak – thank you!

Because I was with them last year, the majority there were familiar with my experience of losing my parents, so I shared a condensed version of the full story. The heart of the message was on how to heal from losing a loved one. I spoke on dealing with regrets such as: time not spent together or things not said…you know the “should’ve/would’ve/could’ve” mentality. We think those things, yet understand that the person we have lost is in the presence of Jesus and is NOT thinking about those things! I also shared the importance of keeping them alive by talking about them, sharing memories and mentioning them every time they come to mind. The pain is in this - going to the place they died, and they are not there anymore – where think about their life, not their death.

The remainder of the conference was a feast on solid food and would be best described by this Scripture found in Hebrews 5:13-14 “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil”. Once we had honored Cindy, these ladies were ready to go deep and that is exactly where God took us. (Let me remind you of Cindy’s email to me “You are to come and bring us “made for New Life” messages.) God so conformed them for New Life that “Submission of Heart”  took two sessions to deliver and “Choose Not to be Offended” on Sunday morning took off in whole new direction! Serving God is SO exciting, I would not have missed being a part of this conference for anything! 

This memoir would not be complete without mentioning Sole Desire worship band!  Some of the deepest ministries of healing and deliverance came through our time of worship. Their love of Jesus combined with their God-given talent and passion for ministry makes this team a virtual conduit into the Holy of Holies! At times the Presence of God was so strong it was difficult to adequately express the love for Jesus we were feeling! 

In closing, I am in remembrance of this - the one word Carly, (Cindy’s eldest daughter), used to describe her Mom – legacy! The goal for all of us who are in Christ Jesus is to be Christ-like and Cindy was just that to everyone she ever met. To me, Cindy’s legacy is that she put God first, then her husband, then her children and then her ministry. Scripture tells us in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment of all is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This was indeed the legacy Cindy left behind for her girls and for all of us who were touched by her life!