Time Out For Women 2011!

The last few years my mom, aunt, good friend, mother in law and myself have gone to the Time Out For Women (TOFW.com). It's the most wonderful womens conference. So uplifting! The speakers, the music... they are truly inspired.

I love to take notes so that I can look back and remember the feelings that I had that made me laugh, cry, reflect and learn. I thought I would share a few with everyone.

First off, the singers were incredible! Music is always something that has gotten me through difficult times. I got to hear music by Macy Robinson (amazing!) and Hilary Weeks. Hilary Weeks has been my favorite Christian singer for as long as I can remember. She is amazing and the music that she writes is even more amazing. I HIGHLY recommend taking a few minutes to watch her new music video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyX-I-um5Kk) called Beautiful Heartbreak. All the people featured in the video are real people. I've followed their stories over the years and they are also amazing people if you get the chance to read more about them.

The speakers that we heard were: Laurel Christensen, Brad Wilcox, Mary Ellen Edmunds, Linda Eyre & Shawni Pothier, D. Kelly Ogden, Matt Baldwin and my personal favorite Kris Belcher.

Kris Belcher is a beautiful accomplished humorous woman that has been to hell and back and has come out the other side to share her experiences and teach others what she has learned. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak or read her books PLEASE do it. You won't regret it. When she was 7 months old she was diagnosed with cancer in her retinas. She went through radiation at 7 months old! It saved her sight and her life but many years later (just 8 years ago) the radiation she had gone through as an infant caused more cancer. They had to remove her eye and she completely lost sight in the other. She was on the verge of death and after what she went through she wished she was dead for a long time. Now when she gets up on stage to talk she cracks jokes and then suddenly the spirit just fills the room with her words of inspiration and teaching. I know that we are not suppose to compare out trials with anyone elses but boy... when you hear about the things that she has been through in her life, or the people featured in Hilary Weeks video... it certainly makes my trials feel very small and puts it all into perspective.

So I just jotted down a few things here and there. Some quotes or things that felt important to me. Here are a few of them:
-Do the thing you think you can not do."
-Don't you dare be the one thing standing in your own way.
-Beware of the temptation to retreat from a good thing.
-Jesus chose to become like us, so we could choose to become like him.
-A God that requires nothing of us, makes nothing of us.
-Your children listen. They may not always obey, but they always listen. So be careful what you do and say.
-You're never alone. You may at times abandon Him, but He never abandons us.
-Look for holiness in the imperfect moments.
-Remember who your children really are.
-God must think a lot of you to have sent you a child that is hard to raise and takes extra effort. (I really liked this one. I talk to some people who act like raising kids is so effortless and doesn't know why people complain and I love this quote cause now I can say (or think- cause it would probably be rude to say) "God must not think much of you to have given you such an easy child. Didn't think you could handle anything else." haha!
-Let your children hear you say how much you love the Savior and Heavenly Father.
-You have to look up! That's where He is.
-Focusing on darkness will not get us to the light.

So those are the things I wrote down. If you have never attending a TOFW... go next year! It's worth it!