At the beginning of May I had the opportunity to take an overnight trip to Long Beach for the Time Out For Women conference. I went with my mother-in-law Donna, and two sisters-in-law Aileen and Anne Marie. It was SO MUCH FUN, and it was just what I needed. Not only was it fun spending time with some of my favorite people, but it was also an extremely uplifting, inspirational, and spiritual weekend for me. I find that since having kids my opportunities to feel the spirit are scarce. On Sundays I spend the entire sacrament meeting trying to make sure my kids are not fighting, whining, or being irreverent and so I rarely get much out of what is being taught. Right now my calling is the Valiant 10 teacher in primary, which I love, but it's still hard to really feel the spirit when you're babysitting at the same time and making sure the kids are behaving. This little getaway came at the perfect time for me and I really learned a lot. Here are a few things I learned that I don't want to forget:
*If I want the spirit to be more prevalent in my life, I have to seek for it. It isn't going to jump out and grab me. I need to spend more time in my day-to-day life seeking for opportunities to feel the spirit. Reading my scriptures more often, listening to uplifting music, taking the time to pray more earnestly.
*Thoughts are powerful. Our thoughts have such amazing power over how our lives turn out. On average, we think over 300 negative thoughts a day. What am I thinking about? I have always been a little more on the pessimistic side. In any given situation, I am much better at noticing the negative then the positive. I need to focus on making my thoughts more positive and therefore changing the negativity within me to gratitude and happiness. When I focus on the positive the spirit can more easily thrive within me.
*The Savior truly does heal us and give us hope. What burden can I lay at the feet of the Lord today? He wants to take it away, he is just waiting for us to ask Him.
*Don't wish the time away. Live in the moment and enjoy what you have NOW. Don't let the sun go down without letting your children know how much you love them.
*Listen carefully, Laugh often, Look forward, and Love deeply
*It is not selfish to sometimes put myself first. In order to give the best of me to those I love, I need to take the time to take care of myself without feeling guilty about it!
If you've never been to time out for women, you really should go. I plan to go every time it's close to home!
I love the random lady behind us. That's totally something I would do.
We felt really stupid when Hilary Weeks told us to get up and dance, so we had to take a picture of the incredibly awkward but funny moment.
Meeting Hillary Weeks
7 comments:
Thanks for the meeting recap, I really liked those main points.
Cool! Someday I will go.
So glad you had a great time, but I'm surprised the dancing was awkward- that is something I could TOTALLY see you do!
So fun! Love the floral shirt- where'd you get it?
I think I made that picture look awkward :/ Thanks for a great weekend! So glad I went!
P.S. I'm stealing some of these pictures ;)
So much fun! If you ever get the chance, try women's conference! I loved it this year. It is further away from home, but such a wonderful experience. Its like Time Out for women times 10!!! Glad you had such a good experience. I feel the same way with kids and with my primary calling- hard to feel that spirit on a weekly basis.
Thanks for sharing some of your notes! I'm more on the pessimist side too (I think that's why we got along so well in high sch ;)AND I feel the spirit much more in abundance when little children are not around. We are a lot alike :)
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