Time Out For Women Day 2

Lexie & I got up this morning at 7:00 so we could get ready for the day.  We checked out of the hotel, went and got breakfast at Sonic, and then ran by WalMart so Lexie could get some shoes that weren’t falling apart.  We went back to the convention center to start another uplifting day at Time Out For Women.

This is not a very good picture of me, but it’s the only one I got w/ Laurel Christensen Day, so I’m posting it.  I saw her before the event started and I’ve been following her blog for years & that I’ve won a few giveaways she’s done.  She asked my name & when I told her she got so excited and said that it’s so nice to put a name w/ a face.  I told her that she’s given me such hope as a single adult & she was just as nice as can be.  I’m so glad I got to chat w/ her & get a pic w/ her.

First we heard from Chris Williams, who is the guy in THIS video.  He shared w/ us how he was able to so quickly forgive the drunk teenage boy that ran into them & killed his pregnant wife & 2 of his 4 kids.  He discussed “Standing in God’s presence & 4 keys to confidence in communing with Him.”

Jericho Road performed a few songs & shared spiritual insights w/ us between their songs.  They have amazing voices.  Of course Abe (the black guy) is my favorite in the group.  The best part was when they took off their jackets and did a boy band tribute mash up.  All us ladies were on our feet dancing around & singing along.  Some ladies even rushed to the front of the stage just for fun.

After that we had a 20 minute break and I went to the back of the room where they had some Deseret Book products set up.  They had these super cute flower rings in the Young Women value colors, so I got a white one for me & a purple one for Lex.

Then we heard from Sandra Turley, who played Cosette in Les Miserables on Broadway & was part of the original closing cast.  She performed a few songs for us between the things she talked about and her voice is INCREDIBLE!!!  I liked when she sang “Think Of Me” from Phantom of the Opera & said to think of it in terms of our relationship w/ Heavenly Father.  She focused on the line, “there will never be a day when I don’t think of you.”

Next up was John Hilton III and he talked about how we can “lift up our eyes to see the bigger picture.”  He shared a quote from Elder Scott from October 1999 General Conference that said:

“The Lord has placed currents of divine influence in your life that will lead you along the individual plan He would have you fulfill here on earth. Seek through the Spirit to identify it and carefully follow that direction that the Lord has put in your life. Align yourself with it. Choose, willingly, to exercise your agency to follow it. Do not be overcome by concentrating solely on today, its challenges, difficulties, and opportunities. Such preoccupations must not totally capture your attention so as to consume your life. Oh, how I would encourage you to weave deeply into the fabric of your soul the recognition that your life now is a part of a much bigger plan the Lord has for you. You lived part of it in the premortal existence. You were valiant there and came here because you wanted to grow and enjoy greater happiness. What you decide to do now will affect how well you fulfill that divine, personal plan He has for you.  I do not fully understand how it is done, but this divine current does not take away your moral agency. You can make the decisions you choose to make.”

He also shared a quote from Elder Maxwell about how “the mundane can be miraculous.”  That’s one of the reasons I do Project Life so faithfully … it helps me to recognize all the small blessings in my life so that I don’t take them for granted as much as I might otherwise.

For lunch we took advantage of the $10 pasta bar they had set up next door, and then after we were done eating, we went over to help w/ the service project.  Everyone was asked to bring something to donate (specific items based on the first initial of your last name).  Last night at WalMart Lexie & I each got a box of instant oatmeal packets & 2 boxes of granola bars.  Then we were given a plastic bag and put together a food kit that had a certain amount of each item.

That food was then donated to the Tarrant Area food bank.  They said we had so much food donated that they were able to put together 408 bags of food that contained all of these items.  It broke my heart to think that there are kids who just dread Fridays b/c they don’t know where their next meal after lunch at school on Friday will come from.  This way, they are able to go home w/ a backpack full of food to get them through the weekend.

After the lunch break, we heard from Merrilee Boyack, who talked about how “we are all enlisted” and “standing up for the truth in a sit-down world.”  She is a FIRECRAKER of a lady and has such a fun and vibrant and out going personality.  She shared how some of us are privates, some are colonels, and some are generals in the Lord’s Army to defend truth.  But no matter what we are all warriors.

Laurel Christensen Day talked about “letting go of your fears & finding the courage to walk away from the fears that hold you back.”  She talked about 4 different types of fears: 1) fear of disappointment, 2) fear of danger or bad things, 3) fear of failure, and 4) fear of success.  She shared a lot of great thoughts & scriptures to go along w/ those.  I love this thing she said, “there is peace on the other side of brave.”

That was the end of the conference, and it was already 4:00.  We headed for home and drove through a few big rain storms.  We for sure need the moisture.  When we got closer to home, the rain stopped and there was a big bright rainbow.  This picture does no justice to how bright it was.  We could actually see all of the ROYGBIV colors.

Mom had texted me this picture earlier today.  There was a race in Mom & Dad’s town today & the course was on the busy road right behind their house.  Dad decided to set up their own little water station and have the kids take cups of water to the runners.  They were out there for about 2 hours and had such a good time.  What a great way to learn about the joy of serving others!  I’m so thankful for INCREDIBLE parents that do things like this for their grandkids.

The kids were so excited to show us what they had done while we were gone.  I guess Dad had found this abandoned stop sign on the ground a while ago, so he had the kids help him put it up and they put their handprints and names in the cement around the post.  He talked to them about how they should “STOP” if they are doing something bad.  So cute!

We had some dinner, relaxed, and then Autumn & I got ready for her cheer game tonight at 7:00.  It was at a local high school stadium, so they got to cheer on a “real field”.  The sunset & clouds were so pretty b/c of the earlier rain storm.  It was also REALLY humid!

It was fun to get to sit up in the bleachers and watch the football game & watch the cute cheerleaders.  We actually scored a few touchdowns this time, but not enough to win.  I guess we’re going for a perfect record of no wins.  LOL!

After each game the football players sit on the sidelines and the cheerleaders do a cheer for them.  As the girls were getting their snacks before everyone left for home, a police officer came over to our group.  He said he wanted to let us all know that he had been there all day and that our cheerleaders were the best and loudest he had heard all day!  That was so cool of him to make the effort to let us know, and really gave our girls a boost.  I’m kicking myself now for not getting a group picture of him & the girls together.  Oh, well!

We got home and I put Autumn to bed right away b/c she had had a full day & was tired.  Once she was asleep and Nick got home from work, I went to WalMart to do some late night shopping and get stuff I need for the refreshments for the Single Adult fireside tomorrow night.  I love going shopping by myself late at night.