Hello world! ok, hello me, but really anyways....
I truly have no idea where to start or how much to say about my experience with Women of Faith. It was wonderful to have a time to get to know my husband's cousin a lot better. It was wonderful to get to know her and meet her hillarious BFF :) I doubt she reads this, but just in case... Joy, YOU are a joy!!
I had been planning and packing for this trip for about 3 days. Of course the actual packing for it took about 10 minutes. I mean, seriously, what do you take when you are just gonna sit on your butt for hours and listen to people encourage you? So jeans and t-shirts and sweatshirts and comfy jammies. Had great drive down to my friend's BFF's house. Didn't get to sleep until after 11:30pm and woke up nice and early to get to Starbuck's for coffee/oatmeal and of course a DOUGHNUT!!! I hadn't had a doughnut in months and it tasted so fabulous! Then off to the Rose Garden for the Friday slate of speakers. Sheila Walsh, honestly, how can anyone not love that women when she speaks. So amazing. The only main things from her I wrote down were to remember that Jesus knows where to find you so just concentrate on being a sheep and going where He leads. Tough stufff to remember when you are in the midst of stress and strife. Backing up a bit, I truly wrestled with whether or not to go to WOF (Women of Faith) because our finances are really tight and I really wanted to make a good choice with my money. Despite my poor mother's warnings of not spending too much money, my sweet husband encouraged me to go and have a wonderful time. Needless to say, to some of you, I really felt like God had planned for me to be there. I always feel like God plans for me to go places and all I have to do is listen. I am so thankful I listened. The gals I went with surprised me with a night at a hotel nearby. I love them. They are so wonderful and I can never repay them for all the love and encouragment and laughs they gave me over that weekend. But boy was it nice to wake up and just be a little over 15 min. away (walking) to get to Saturday's group of speakers. Sheila Walsh spoke again and so did a few others. There were two things that really struck me and stuck with me. I listened to Karen James speak. She is the wife of the climber, Kelly James, who died on top of Mt. Hood in Dec of 2006. She hadn't been back to Portland since then and it was amazing to hear her story of what she went through and how God walked with her through the whole thing. If you have a chance to read her book "Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount hood Tragedy" I highly recommend it. Ok, so it is the next book I'm going to read, but honestly, we heard an overview of it in her talk and it compelled me to check it out of our library.
The second thing that stuck with me actually deserves a bit of background (yup, I'll keep it short). Just before I left I had been in the throws of praying a little baby that I truly didn't know (didn't even know the parents). He was born with Tetralogy of Fallot in a severe form. This poor boy was subjected to so many tests, surgeries and tubes I just can hardly talk about it. Having seen my last baby boy, little mr. J, in the NICU at Swedish and having to leave him there for 1 week and not take him home was hard enough, but to listen to this baby's mama describe her feelings and what she was going through watching him try and heal was so impactful. Sadly, just a few days before WOF, baby Ewan died. I have never cried for another unknown person like I did for that sweet baby and his family. Even now, I am tearing up at the thought. I truly felt like I walked with them through that with prayers. So, fastforward to Saturday and Natalie Grant (Christian singer) gets up to sing a concert. Now I have always liked her, heck she is from the area so it is sort of one of those "support the hometown girl" sort of things, but after she was done singing I can honestly say she ranks right up there with Steven Curtis Chapman or Michael W. Smith when it comes to impacting my heart with God's words. If you have never heard her song "Held"... wow... again, wow. I love and hate that song at the same time. It talks about dealing with losing a child. I felt for baby Ewan's family all through it. I prayed for them again, as oddly enough, at that moment they were in the middle of their memorial service/funeral up in Washington and there I was praising Jesus and singing in Oregon. I must have had a lot of tears stored up because by the time we left I don't think I had anymore tears left in me. And I have to clarify this a bit, they were not tears of sadness per se, they were tears of Joy. Yup, used a capital J for Joy. That kind of Joy is God given and God breathed. Being filled with Joy of how much God loves me as I am and never leaves me and knows where I've been and where I'm going and knew me before I was even in mother's womb and as I grew up with many many struggles (some of which I have come to terms with and others I am sure I will at some point). As my old BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) leader used to say: God is Good, ALL the Time!! Everything that is good comes from Him. I am so thankful that I grew up knowing that He loved me and that He is in complete control. I'd hate to have grown up thinking that when I die, it's just over. Bleck! Or as my uncle says, Bluck Pooey! The legacy I hope I leave here on Earth is one for Jesus and his free saving Grace for those who want it. No strings attached. He died for me and ALL of us and in two weeks I get to rejoice with family as my oldest boy, T-man, is baptized. I am so proud of him and who he is. He is truly a joy (ok, frustration, too) to me. I am a better person for having had him as my son and one day I hope I can be as sweet and wonderful as he is. I am one blessed mama.
Ok.. wow.. don't think I've ever typed this much. I gotta quit so I can clean up my kids and their dirty hands from lunch.
I am so thankful for my WOF weekend. Praise Jesus I live in a country where that is legal and we are able to worship and praise the awesome and wonderful God we serve!
Have a blessed week ... the few of you who read this... if any. But hey, I am actually excited to have an online journal. When I go back to Paris someday I want to be able to write about my trip somewhere I can always see it.
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