Women Of Faith

Last weekend, I attended Women of Faith here in Billings. It was the first event in the Metra Rimrock Auto Arena since the Father's Day tornado last summer. I went with a group from church and 3 other women from our Small Group. I was looking forward to these 2 days for several reasons, but mostly, I was looking forward to some time away from work that didn't involve a sick child or family obligations. It was a soul stirring 2 days. I tried to take notes and did pretty well on Friday. I actually had planned to try to Tweet, but couldn't get a good connection. So, I just took notes on my phone. I thought I might be able to blog about some of the things I heard, but as it's been a couple of days, I think I would rather reminisce on those parts that touched my soul. On Friday, we heard Patsy Clairmont and Andy Anderson. Patsy talked about emotions. She talked a lot about how God created us with a Will greater than our Emotions. Our emotions need boundaries. Our emotions need to not be given control over our thoughts. My favorite part of Andy's talk was when he spoke about the Butterfly Effect, which I think about a lot. I think about the little decisions I've made in my life that have brought me to this point. I also think about how decisions my ancestors made affect me today -- if only that if they had not made those decisions I may not even be here. Friday evening was kind of a preview of Saturday, with some of the BIG names. The pre-teen who still lives inside me squealed at the thought of getting to see "Blair Warner" (Lisa Whelchel) from The Facts of Life. I may or may not have spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon watching "mini-sodes" of The Facts of Life on Crackle. Sandi Patty, Marilyn Meberg, Mandisa and Selah rounded out the evening. I loved hearing Sandi Patty sing and Selah was so much fun. Mandisa has a beautiful voice, but I didn't enjoy her performance as much. Saturday was simply phenomenal. I didn't take as many notes because I couldn't quite keep up. I really enjoyed Lisa Whelchel's talk. She talked about adult female friendships and we all enjoyed being reminded that we are not perfect and the imperfect friendships are so wonderful. Sandi sang a soul stirring song that brought tears to my eyes, even though I couldn't tell you now what she sang. Actually, the music the entire weekend was soul stirring. The worship team had us up singing and dancing, learning some new songs. I didn't buy anything throughout the weekend (other than food), but I'm still contemplating purchasing a couple of CDs from their website! It really was nice to be able to hang out with the "girls" for a few days. We laughed, we cried, we enjoyed some beers at dinner :) and I think we learned a little more about each other. I look forward to the day that I can share the weekend with Maggie and Jessie and even my Mom -- once she retires.