Girls' Weekend

We have been anticipating this weekend for almost six months.  A two-day Christian women's conference, a nice hotel bed, continental breakfast, restaurant dining, traveling to a different state, to a big city.... A GIRLS' WEEKEND!

We each opened an unsuspecting envelope on Christmas eve at my parent's house, and then looked at eachother as we opened them. In December we knew, this date would have our fellowship, our late-night girl-talk, our laughter, our tears, our smiles, our spirits, our growth, and our hearts- all over it.

My mom has four daughters, and the sweetest daughter-in-law.  All six of us, each different and yet the same, each learning a little more about the other, and trusting the other more and more.  As we talk of our lives, some hundreds of miles from the other, each containing much of the same.  We talk lightly of fun times and goofy things.  We talk deep and long of our hurts and our joys, all intertwined in our lives.  I cannot speak highly enough of these women God chose to be a part of my life.

 

These women's conferences, they know just how to reach us. As each woman spoke, we poured over God's word, we sang praise songs, we sat and listened to their stories, their insight, their hope and dreams for us.  As women of God, we are blessed.  We each have broken dreams, broken hearts, and hurts, but we also have hope and encouragement from our creator.  We also have resources, as small or insignificant as we feel they are, we have to use them 100% for His purposes.  If we hold back, we are not truly allowing God to do His work through and in us.  It takes some risk, but that is what faith is, is it not?  He wants us to trust Him - to lean on Him - to know us, so that in turn we would know Him.  So that we would really know His incredible love for each of us.  So that we would realize our need for Him. So that He could be our knight in shining armor - so that we would dream of the day when He says to us, "darlings, precious daughters, come home to me."

Some of the speakers used their talents to inspire us to do more, to be more diligent in our daily tasks, to be a better ___________.  They throw in tid-bits that resonate with all of us.  How we fight with our spouses, and even plan retaliation; or how we have ugly thoughts about our neighbors, our friends, our family, and we struggle with our own insecurity.  They make us laugh because we have all been there. We have each had similar experiences in different circumstances.

At one point, towards the end of the conference, I couldn't help but be reminded of our deep desires, as women.  The speaker's words dripped of a love story, of a novel that is mesmerizing.  As I sat listening I thought ---- they get it, they know how the plot thickens and is complicated with obstacles, and yet how we all crave the perfect love story with the dreamy ending.  We all want to be sought after, dreamed of, and wooed (if that's even a word).  God is for everyone, His story of love is for each person that He created.  However, it is a talented few who can take His story, and remind us that our creator designed us a certain way.  A way in which our hearts would go pitter-patter for a love story, His love story, being written in the chapters of our lives is riveting.  If we would each take a moment to think of how He has wooed us, how He has craved our attention and pined for our affection.  Women connect with this story in a different way than men, and that is not something to be taken for granted.  It is something to be celebrated.

My hope for you is that you are able to see the love story in your own life. That you are mesmerized by the savior who gave His life for you.  Although I am frequently side-tracked and sucked into the mundane things of life, I am still in this story for the ending, for the perfect ending.  I will endure the obstacles and shattered dreams, and I will always remember His great love for me, and the gifts He bestows all the while the plot twisting and thickening.  I will choose to always see the loves He has put into my life, my hubby, my kiddos, my sisters, my mom, my friends, my in-law's, and yes, the material things too ---- like these darling purses that mom gave us.  Thank you, Mom!