Last year I spent most of the weekend of April 27th crying.

When I wasn’t crying I was grinning ear to ear.

It was our first ever attempt to gather women and (in)courage readers from across the globe together in real life. Nearly 2,000 sisters in Christ showed up and it flat out took our breath away. {That’s me on the right with my friend Christy who helped host our meetup}.

For months the (in)courage team had been praying for women to find community and Jesus in the same time and space. Instead of hosting a conference at one location, we wanted to bring the conference to you. So that the women you connected with could become local, real life friends. It’s how the (in) real life conference was born.

But to see all your faces, to meet His daughters face-to-face? It was overwhelming.

I’d be scrolling through pages and pages of Instagram pics with the #inRL hashtag and my husband would look over and say, “Having another moment?” And I’d just nod dumbly and thank Jesus for the gift of the body of Christ as tears made their way down my grinning cheeks.

Today marks the beginning of doing it all again. The brave, the stepping out of our comfort zones, the being willing to open our hearts and our front doors to friends we may not have met yet.

Click here to come over to our (in)RL page to register and find out more. Because:

  1. It’s FREE!
  2. Everyone who registers today and TODAY ONLY gets a copy of our (in)courage 365 Daybrightener while supplies last (US residents only).
  3. Everyone who registers TODAY AND EVERY DAY gets a copy of our first eBook: Best of the Beach House 2012: A Collection of Your Favorite Posts from the Writers of (in)courage.

Want to know what others are saying about their (in)RL experience?

Here’s a snapshot of what (in)RL meant to the thousands of women who were impacted by connecting with other local sisters in Christ last year. It about blows us away.

And is the reason I’ll probably be right there crying through (in)RL 2013 same as last year.

And I’m looking forward to it!

Now, what are you waiting for? Come over and register already!

And if you’ve still got questions – we’ve got tons of answers over here on the FAQ page. Or leave ’em in the comments. Or come and join us on Twitter tonight to chat about it.

Everyone welcome. Just the way you are.

Still not sure what it’s all about – here’s the trailer. It’s lovely. Just like you!

~ Lisa-Jo, community manager for (in)courage and fan of real life friendship.

PS: If you’re in the Northern Virginia area, yup I’m hosting a meetup and would love to meet you!