When in Nashville

Hey y’all!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far. A few days ago, I got back from an amazing conference for Delight Ministries in one of my absolute favorite cities … Nashville!

I love Nashville, I’ve been there only twice yet I call it my happy place. I honestly could see myself living there someday! There’s much to do and there’s just good vibes all over town. Most of the locals are very down-to-earth (and have the sweetest Southern accents!), there’s so many authentic coffee shops with delicious coffee, and I love the mixture of city and country town style. But aside from the free time we had in the city, we were mainly there for the conference and was an absolute life-changing experience! It was pretty similar to last year’s conference, which was my first conference, but still worth sharing with y’all ☺️

Me and a few of the leaders from the Kent State chapter all rode down together in my friend Katie’s big truck. We left around 7:30 (don’t worry, we grabbed Starbucks on the way!) and arrived there around 5 pm thanks to the time change. We stayed in a super nice Airbnb in the Greenwood area with the leaders of the University of Akron Delight chapter. The first day of conference wasn’t till the next day, so the girls and I went out to Pinewood Social for a girls’ night. We ate good food and took some pictures with the Downtown Nashville skyline behind us, and then we headed to a mini gathering for the midwestern Delight chapters with our regional director Hope, who is the absolute sweetest and most beautiful soul I have ever met! Her welcoming and joyful energy lit up the room! We also met a bunch of other girls from other chapters, as well as reunited with a few girls we met at last year’s conference! It was a perfect first night, and a perfect way to start off the conference trip.

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Dinner at Pinewood Social with the girls!

Dinner at Pinewood Social with the girls!

I won’t go into full detail like I did with last’s year post about the conference, so I’ll narrow the big points down in the best way I can. It was pretty much similar to last year, minus the fact that now me and a few girls are leading the new Kent State chapter this fall (woo-hoo!), so this was Kent State’s first Delight conference! The setup and schedule was very very like last year, and everybody there was so sweet. Mac and Kenz, the founders of Delight Ministries, and all the regional directors could not have been any more kind, and their love for Jesus is so inspiring! There were two inspiring speakers: Pastor Lyle Philips and Jane Ogg, as well as a sweet dinner performance by Jordy Searcy. The conference was sponsored by MISSIO Hair, DaySpring (whom I’ve collaborated with before!), and LifeWay Women. And, of course, there was a lot of worship, games, goodies, sermons, discussion groups, and much more. The conference was absolutely amazing. I absolutely could feel the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit the entire time!

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As far as exploring Nashville goes, it was wonderful. We took pictures in front of murals (as you do when visiting Nashville), went to cute coffee shops, and even went up the Thompson Hotel to get a view of Downtown Nashville from the rooftop bar! Here’s something really cool … we met a celebrity! I don’t know if y’all are familiar with For King & Country, they’re a Christian band led by two Australian guys named Joel and Luke. They’ve been nominated and actually won a Grammy and have also performed on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Basically what happened was we walked into a coffee shop located in the Gulch on 24 South Avenue called Killebrew and we saw Joel (Luke wasn’t there unfortunately) chatting with the barista as he tried a few pastry samples. Recognizing him immediately, my friend Tara went up to him and introduced herself. Joel was so kind and shook all of our hands as we introduced ourselves. He then introduced us to his beautiful wife Moriah, who was so excited about as being a part of a women’s ministry and featured us on her Instagram story! They were also kind enough to take some pictures with us and were just an overall delight to talk to … see what I did there?

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To sum up, my second Delight Ministries conference experience was absolutely incredible and I already can’t wait for next year! I’m even more excited to serve this fall for Kent State’s new chapter, I’m so fired up with the Holy Spirit within me and I’m ready to spread the good news of Jesus on our campus!

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If you want to learn more about Delight, how to join and possibly how to start a chapter on your campus, be sure check out their website and follow them on Instagram!

Have you ever been to Nashville? Comment about your experience down below and also like this post! 

Caroline Tullis