Last week, I went to my first Christian Bookseller Association (CBA) conference — at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. It was also my first trip to the famed “Music City,” and I half-expected to see Stetson-clad cowboys two-steppin’ in the street. Instead, I mostly saw thousands of Christian books!

I badgered a few people to see if I could get a badge to attend — it’s one of those conferences where they have security at the door. CBA Advance is held every January and offers Christian publishers and wholesalers the chance to connect with retail buyers, authors, and editors to share products and ideas. There’s an even bigger CBA gathering held in July.

Before I left, I was secretly worrying about my budget — how many books would I be able to buy? When I’ve been to homeschool conferences, my credit card has burned a hole through my purse as I purchased curriculum and must-have educational products.

But this turned out to be different. Nothing was for sale! The booths displayed only floor samples for buyers. I felt like I was going on a treasure hunt every time I walked around the HUGE room. And there were authors I recognized everywhere! I had to stand and gawk at novelist Liz Curtis Higgs, my favorite humor columnist — she was signing her newest release. Her column appears on the last page of every Today’s Christian Woman issue — and she’s so funny.

Then I walked past Mary Hunt’s publisher — and there she was signing her two new financial management books. I’ve read her Everyday Cheapskate columns for ages — and here she was in person, smiling at me and giving me her books!

So, of course I’ll be reviewing many of them here for you. I’m almost halfway through Dennis Leonard’s Happiness Matters: 21 Thoughts that Could Change Your Life, and I love it — and can’t wait to tell you about it. (It came with a CD of some mighty fine preaching.) Michelle Medlock Adams and Gena Maselli signed their adorable book for women, Divine Secrets of the Yahweh Sisterhood, which looks like a fun read. I also picked up a copy of Story by Steven James, which is a passionate retelling of the real Easter story and will be sold in stores everywhere this spring.

One highlight was taking a swampboat tour with the author of The Wilderking Trilogy — which I’ll tell you more about tomorrow.

If you’ve never been to Opryland, here’s my sales pitch: it’s ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. I felt like I was in Hawaii — or on some remote South Pacific island. You’re inside this huge, 4.5-acre glass atrium, surrounded by real living plants — and you hear the swish and roar of waterfalls everywhere. The picture above is where my husband and I enjoyed our breakfast croissants and coffee in the morning. He could hardly get a bite to eat because I kept asking him to take more pictures — I love palm trees!

The best part of the conference for me was meeting the real people behind email names. A dozen of us from my online writers’ group met for a chat — and it encouraged me so much. Most of the writing work I do is very far from glamorous — I’m either up writing alone before dawn — or I’m composing while surrounded by kids, crayons, pets, sandwiches, laundry, the phone ringing, grocery lists, missing shoes, and stacks of magazines and books (which give me plenty to write about — but there’s not a pinch of glamour involved.)

So this was beyond refreshing for me — and hopefully, I’ll have plenty of new books and ideas to encourage and inspire you as well.

Living faith — that’s what I saw — the love of Christ demonstrated in thousands of ways.