Week Three Extended Learning and Updates
Friday, January 23, 2026 by Cindy K. Sproles

Week Three Extended Learning is Available – Jan. 23

Week three is up on the site. Thank you, Martin Wiles, professional editor and editor of ChristianDevotions.us, for an excellent lesson on getting your writing seen in the search engines. Check out Martin's extended learning on SEO on our blog. Click here.

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We have a need that must be met -- If you are staying off-campus and are willing to pick up a male conferee staying in one of the hotels off-campus, please let me know. We prefer that another gentleman provide this assistance, as it is more appropriate. Please let me know if you are willing to ride share from one of the hotels at the foot of the Cove. Your help would be like being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Contact me at: [email protected].

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God shows up (and this is just the start) - We prayed for our conference to be sold out, for God to send those He'd have attend, and our conference is ONE PERSON FROM SOLD OUT! If you know of someone who wants to attend, have them contact me at [email protected]. I ?have broken the link on the website because we cannot oversell. There is no more room at the Cove. We do have one last slot. Just contact me, and I'll send them a link to register and pay. God is good. He never fails us.

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Reminder Invoices Sent - Denise and I sent reminder invoices on Wednesday. You have until Feb. 13 for payment, but we are asking you to pay sooner rather than later. The bills are due, and we have to make a payment, so if you are able to go ahead and complete your payment, please do. We can't thank you enough.

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The "HARD" Conversation - Each year, we take the time to address the hard subject: appearance. And I'm not talking about how you dress, but how you conduct yourselves as men and women. There are meeting areas around the Cove and in our hotel, where we can gather as a group after the day's work is done. We encourage you to gather in those spots. If you make friends with someone of the opposite sex, do not meet up in your hotel room. Do not put yourself in a situation that could appear less than appropriate. Or, Lord forbid, for anything less than Christian to happen. I'm talking about any sort of inappropriate actions or sexual aggressiveness. Ladies and gentlemen, we are all adults, and as much as I would like to say there is never anything unsavory that could happen at a Christian conference, I can't. Do not put yourself in a situation where anything could ever be misunderstood. Billy Graham, himself, abided by the number three. Always three people, never two. That said, if you, at any point, feel as though someone has approached you inappropriately, you must tell us immediately --don't wait six months. I cannot help you six months from now. We cannot deal with the past, only with what is in the present.

I trust and fervently pray each year that God will extend a hand of protection over our conference so that nothing like this would happen. Please enjoy the company of your peers, but do it at the fireside meeting areas. Do not meet in your hotel room. Gentlemen, be kind and polite, and ladies, a compliment of "You look nice today" is not a sexual advance. Remember to be Christlike and kind, polite, and respectful of one another. Meet in the areas for group interaction. Always meet with at least three people.

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The Eternal Feeding Trough - Or that's what I call it. At the Cove, one of your amenities is snacks and drinks. Inside the training center, there is a drink bar with soft drinks, water, tea, coffee, and, get this, ICE CREAM. Oh, how I love the ice cream. In the hotel's open meeting areas, drinks are available. You can get your morning coffee, hot chocolate, tea, or soft drink at that drink station. There is no additional charge for this. It is simply one of the niceties of the Cove. I recommend bringing a cup with a lid. You can fill it and keep it with you. The Cove provides drink cups, but I like my big ole drinkin' cup. And it has a lid - hence, no spills for Cindy. That said, pick up after yourself. When you finish with a cup, put it in the trash. Don't leave it in the auditorium. I'm a mountain girl. My momma raised me to pick up after myself and leave a place better than when I came. I ask that of you as well.

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Early Bird Classes - You do not sign up for them. You just show up and attend. Our group is small enough that signing up for our classes is not necessary. There are two auditoriums back-to-back. The main auditorium, where we meet as a group, and the back auditorium. We have classes going on in both places. To get to meeting room B (the back auditorium), you'll walk into the main auditorium and pretend you are in OZ. Only this time, you go through the curtain at the front left side of the room. It's okay to walk through while teaching is going on. Faculty is very accustomed to folks going in and out for appointments. Just resist the urge to dance a gig. Anyway, go behind the curtain at the front left, and you'll enter Auditorium B. Don't forget we have classes in both places. Choose your class and attend.

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Our Conference Update Page is active - Here you will find everything you need to know for check-in. Rooms are not available for your check-in until 3:30, so leave your bags in your car. We'll give you time to get your hotel room before supper. You'll check in for the conference at Shepherd's Inn Hotel. Our conference care team will be there to check your name off the list and to give you your badge and conference schedule. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR BADGE IN ORDER TO GO TO THE 3RD FLOOR FOR THE CONFERENCE. Please wear your badge at all times. If you do not have it, a Cove representative may ask you to retrieve it. It's also your meal ticket. Wear your badge. You'll sign your liability waiver there as well. The Cove is turning over rooms from a conference that leaves on Friday, so they are working hard to get your room ready. Be patient.

FINALLY --

He Is In Control

?Isn't it wonderful to be reminded how God is in control? In my prayers this week, I have admitted to God that I like to have a heads up. I kinda like to know what I need to do, or wait for, or need to prepare for. Of course, I'm sure the Father chuckles, because He rarely gives me the heads up.

It boils down to His asking us to trust. There are many things in the world of publishing that keep us in the dark. For one, the publishing wheel is SLOW. Oh, so slow. We tend to be a people of NOW. We rule the world of impatience. Meanwhile, God keeps His tennis shoes on and continues to walk at a pace that moves His plan perfectly.

My point is, learning patience is not such a bad thing. Learning trust isn't so bad. A sweet client I work with reminded me this week that trusting God for everything rarely looks like we think it should. When we rush ahead of Him, try to make the way ourselves, we can get it done, but it may not be the best route. She was telling Lori and me about how their family waited for provisions. But her ah-ha moment for me was when she said, "It's just money. Money is nothing to God. He can tackle the really big things. Money is teensy." Truthfully, everything is teensy to our God. So, I'm taking my friend's advice and learning to say, "It's just money. Or it's just medication. Or it's just settling an issue. These things are nothing to God. He can handle them; we simply need to learn patience.

So, as you write, remember not to rush through. Take your time. Finish a project, pray over it, and submit it. If it isn't picked up, learn to say, It's just publication. Publication is nothing to a God who can do anything. WAIT. And at times, the wait feels like forever. Just remember, God has His tennis shoes on, and He's walking at HIS own pace toward HIS plan, hitting perfect timing.

Keep writing. Keep moving forward. Make the efforts, but trust. It's just publication to God. He's got this.

Much love,

Cindy

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Photo: ?Image by u_qkit9gger1 from Pixabay