I'm pretty excited. When I was planning out my budget for conferences this year I thought that the Society of Vineyard Scholars meeting in Columbus was going to be out of reach. I made peace with this decision knowing that there are a lot of great things going on this year, including a National Gathering! But a couple weeks ago I started to sense in my spirit that God wanted me at the meetings in Columbus. I talked with Sharon, ran the numbers, and just put it in God's hands, resigned that maybe I was just feeling this way because I really love my SVS friends and have wanted to be more than just present on the facebook conversation.

It is just like God to wait. Last week I mentioned that I wasn't going to be able to make the meetings and was asked to PM (private message) one of the other members. He wanted to help, to get me there. I thought things are already worked out, it would mean Sharon needs to miss a shift and it will probably be too much for my benefactor to help. So I called Sharon and we chatted. She knew I was feeling that I should be there and she is an amazingly supportive person. She told me that it really only effected one shift and that she could likely move it. Bolstered I decided to run the numbers again and see what it would cost. Well flights had come down, which was encouraging. It was still going to be expensive but it was worth praying into. I also asked if there was still scholarship money from SVS itself - there was. Between SVS and my generous benefactor the cost would be cut in half! That actually made it doable. I even managed to line up shared accommodations for each night. So amazing.

Now I'm convinced that God has something special in store for me at the meetings. I'm looking forward to chatting with so many of the great scholars I've only met on facebook. It should be noted that at the last Society of Pentecostal Scholars meeting the Spirit moved powerfully. I'm praying that we will see a similar move of God at the SVS meetings.

Frank Emanuel - Ontario Region