Minneapolis/St. Paul, you sure know how to heat up your city. When we arrived that night it was a low of -6. Of course, just another day in the neighborhood for you guys. Brrr!

How tough are you? Outside my hotel there was an OUTDOOR concert, a band playing 80’s cover tunes, in that weather. Now, I can tell you that the crowd wasn’t quite Woodstock like, but still, that is what I call hard-core and committed to fun.

On Saturday at the St. Paul River Centre, over 2,000 people came to hear Pastor Mark Driscoll teach about love, marriage, dating and sex. As Mark stated…”in a place where you spend a lot of time indoors, if you are married, or going to get married someday, this is a ‘life skill’ you better get good at, because you are going to have plenty of time.”

The day was amazing, the stories told by attendees were tough, but filled with hope. Our prayer partners prayed with nearly 50-60 people afterward. It was a great conference, it blessed us and we hope it was a blessing to those that attended.

This comment sums it up best and was left on our site just a couple of days ago:

What Mark said about Engedi at the conference in Minneapolis this week really affected us. We have been in a variety of co-sleeping arrangements with our four kids for almost all of our 7 years of marriage. At times it was necessary for us to get any sleep. We have faced huge trials as a couple, most recently surviving cancer (me), losing a baby, and dealing with a life-threatening – and altering – illness in one of our small children. However, Mark’s teaching was the kick in the pants we needed to change our sleep situation. In two days, we have instituted a new sleeping arrangement and routines for everyone in the house, and we have hope – like Doug promised in one of the opening sessions – that God will use our prayerful decision to bless everyone in the house, our kids included.  Thanks for helping us establish Engedi in our home – we already love it!