Women of Faith

Last weekend I went to Women of Faith with my mom and two of her good friends.  There were several ladies from our church who also got tickets.  Jason took the day off of work on Friday to stay home with the boys.  We took off around 9:30 and arrived in Des Moines just in time for lunch.  We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and squeezed in some shopping at Jordan Creek Mall.  The first session of our conference started at 7pm.  We heard some amazing speakers and the music was fabulous!  You know you are listening to a great speaker when you are laughing your head off one minute and crying your makeup off the next.  That's pretty much what we did all day on Saturday as well, from 9am to 5pm.  It was so amazing to listen to all of the stories and heartache these women have been through, yet they still have the deepest faith in God, knowing greater things are yet to come.  The speaker that I connected with the most was Angie Smith.  It was only her second time speaking at WOF.  Her husband Todd is in the musical group Selah, who also performed for us.  She spoke about their three little girls and the loss of their fourth daughter who lived only two and a half hours after she was born.  She talks a lot about their grief and a lot about how their little Audrey has changed so many lives despite her short time on earth.  Needless to say, I didn't have a speck of makeup on when she was finished speaking.  I also just finished reading her book, "I Will Carry You."  I read it at night because, again, I cried through about 95 percent of it.  She has a blog if you are interested in checking it out.  It is:  audreycaroline.blogspot.com.  It was an awesome, inspiring, uplifting way to spend the weekend and I have next year blocked off on my calendar already (August 25th and 26th).  It's tough to put into words everything I took away from WOF.  Here is a nugget:  God does not do things to hurt us.  We are his children.  When you go through something tough, know that He is right beside you even when you feel the most abandoned.  He is right beside you helping to guide you to the other side.  When you hurt, he is hurting with you.  When you cry, he is crying with you.  All you have to do is believe in Him and you have all the protection you will need.  I feel so blessed in my life.  I can't imagine going through some of hurtful, horrible things some of these women talked about.  But it's awesome to know that they each made it through their storms to a more peaceful place because of Him.  It's so comforting to think that no matter what, I have someone to lean on at any moment, forever.  So cool!

Psalm 91:4  He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.