I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that I have had over the last few years to attend Time Out For Women events. I think I have somewhat of an addiction to them, considering this was my 5th event in the last few years, but I can always say that I learn something new every time about myself and my Saviors love for ALL of his children!
This year, I was impacted by them simply asking, What do you know? I really had to pause and contemplate this for a while! What do I know?!!! I didn't have an amazing immediate answer like I thought I should! The first thing that came to my head was that I know that I am kind of crazy!!! THAT is not exactly the thing I should know!!! Not that I am crazy, like need to go the looney bin-crazy, but I am overwhelmed in my every day life with soooo many things and so little time!!! As the weekend went on, I had new ideas about what I really know. I was touched by a couple of speakers that truly made me want to really figure out who I am and what I know!
I am soooo sad that this is the best picture I have of us!!!
I have found a new hero in my life. I think some of the other girls thought I was crazy for being so obsessed with going and seeking this woman out for a picture, and maybe I am but I really am going to strive to be more like this amazing woman. Her name is Mary Ellen Edmunds, and she spoke a lot about attitude. She had several quotes that impacted me including, "Attitude is a choice", and " We are all too good and seeing our own faults and other peoples strengths". So, so true! I was taken back by this womans witt and humor, and the way she seemed to just let things slide right off of her shoulder! I will be trying to be more like this woman. Sometimes my life seems to move so fast that I fail to recognize how blessed I really am, and how much my family really means to me.
The other thing that impacted me was the talk by Emily Freeman. She simply said, "Be content"!! "Be content in who you are and what your Heavenly Father has blessed you with"! I don't know that I can say that I do this well. I am always looking for the next best thing or trying to go, go, go in my life. I definatley do not slow down long enough to be content with all of the wonderful people that fill my life. I am going to try harder to make this my motto in life. She talked about having "a word" on her coffee table, that she was striving to achieve, and I think this is going to be "my phrase"! If I can just BE CONTENT with all of the blessings I have already been given and just be able to slow down and take the time to recognize them, I know my attitude will be changed to gratitude!
I want to share what I KNOW. Partly because sometimes I forget what I know and partly because I want my children to someday KNOW, what I KNOW!
I KNOW.....
I KNOW that my Heavenly Father loves me immensly. He not only loves me and cares about how I feel and what happens to me, he worries about each and every one of us. He loves us MORE than we even love our own children. I can not even comprehend that being possible, but I know that it is true!
I KNOW that I have been given divine inspiration is my life that has blessed my life and the lives of others! Today, sitting in stake conference, I spotted a young couple that I had been prompted several months ago to talke to about adoption. They were not too interested about adoption when we had them over for dinner to tell them of our experience, but I knew that my Heavenly Father wanted me to speak to them about it. As I walked up to them today to congratulate them on their beautiful daughter that they had ADOPTED 5 months ago, the Spirit overwhelmed me again. I KNOW that I have been given a platform in life that my Heavenly Father expects me to share about, and I am so grateful that I get to be one of his advocated for adoption. I KNOW that if I am in tune, and listening to His promptings, He will prompt me to help him do His work.
I KNOW that I can and am daily, impacting and shaping the lives of my children. Sometimes I do a good job of this, sometimes I do a bad job of this, but ALWAYS I am expected to try to do the best job I can to get them back to their Heavenly Father who has really just "loaned" them to me for a while. Yes, they are my children but they are ultimately His children, that He expects me to shape and mold into confident and independent little beings that will also strive to return to Him.
I KNOW that my life is FILLED with amazing, confident, loving, and kind women! I am so grateful for all of the women in my life! From my mom, to my sisters, to the wonderful women I serve with, to the amazing women I call my friends, I am soooo blessed. I have wonderful examples of strong, independant, faithful women all around me, and I am so grateful for their friendships and examples. I am so grateful that they are all so willing to love me and include me in their lives.
I KNOW that this church is true! As much as I ponder and wonder HOW it is all possible, I KNOW that it is! I KNOW that my Heavenly Father is an infinite and all knowing man that has created a plan. Though I cannot even comprehend the magnitude of his plan, just having small glimpses of truths in this gospel has made me stronger. It has also made me willing and able to strive to learn more about His amazing plan and His purpose for me and my life here on Earth.
I KNOW that I have to learn to let the small things go! I will really have to work hard at this one, but I am willing to try. I am so scheduled and in control of so much of my life and my families lives, that I sometimes forget to let them just be! I need to let them just be, so that they can learn to be independent and strong servants of our Savior. Also, so that they can learn for themselves how they should be! I will not always be their to tell them step by step instructions in life, and if I keep up my prodding and demanding ways, they are always going to expect that I am going to be there to give them instructions and they are never going to be able to do it by themselves and my decisions for them selves-good or bad!
I am so grateful for my experiences with Time Out For Women! It always seems to be just what I needed to hear! I am so grateful for my husband and his willingness to let me have girl time! It is so needed and so gratifying to go away and not have to worry about my family. Even if it is only for a short time, I am grateful! I do come home missing them and wanted to be a better mother to them every time!
