Meditation Monday - Time Out For Women

  

Joining with Laura for Meditation Monday. 

This has been a wonderful weekend.  So much so, that I don't even know where to start.  I think it will be several blog posts before I can get it all out of my system.

I was able to drive down to Phoenix Arizona and participate in one of my favorite events, Time Out For Women.  This year was especially near and dear to my heart, as my older girls flew in from Missouri and Kansas, my sister flew in from Georgia, her daughter and daughter in law both flew in, my mom and her friend came as well as my sister in law, my friend, and her daughter, my cousin, and my daughters and daughter in law that live in the valley.  It was the most wonderful weekend with family, friends, spiritual blessings, and a full heart.
Two of my younger daughters were old enough to attend Time out for girls, held at the same time, but in a different set of rooms.  I was surrounded on all sides with people who love me (and I love them!) and it just made everything mean so much more.
There are so many amazing things that happened and that touched my heart, that I don't know where to start. I will start with Friday night.  The evening started out with a quote from Elder Oaks that said:

"In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something."

There is a vast difference between those words.  It is not enough to know, we have to act on what we know. We have to become something that testifies of Him.
Laurel Christensen spoke to us on Friday night.  She is a youth speaker that talks often to young women.  We have her CD's and the girls love them.  She has a down to earth, positive style that reminded me how important attitude is in our lives.  She called herself a "cheerful pessimist".  And as a super hero, advised us that she would be called "Worst Case Scenario Girl".  I had to laugh!  I think that I so resemble that remark.  I loved her thoughts on the "Optimist Experiment".  On choosing to believe that things are going to turn out the way that we hope they will.
I also loved her thoughts on Matthew 7:7-9

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

As I listened to her talk about how she had been given what she thought were stones so many times, that she quit asking for bread.  She quit asking for the things that she needed in her life.  As I listened to her, I realized that I have done much the same.  I am so afraid of asking for things that seem trivial, that I don't ask for them. The things I ask for can be pretty big and important, and often, when my prayers don't seem to have been answered, I think I have been given stones instead of blessings.  And soon, I quit asking for anything.  Yet the scriptures tell us that our Heavenly Father wants to give us bread when we ask for bread.  I think sometimes I see a stone, when if I just waited for awhile, I would find it is really bread after all.

3 Nephi 18:20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

If we change the way we pray so that we are praying for the things that are right and good, than we can truly pray with faith and watch as he blesses us.  Isn't that an amazing way of looking at things?  To pray with faith. I love that concept.
She also talked about her "ah ha" moment.  When she was learning that she could do hard things.  When she realized that she had been wrong about her own ability to do it.  When she succeeded with this one really hard thing that she never thought she would be able to do.  She thought to herself, "If you were wrong about this one thing that you knew you couldn't do, what else have you been wrong about in your life?  What could you have done if you had only tried a little harder?"
I am reminded of the saying

"I can do hard things"

Not only can I, but I have done many, many hard things.  

And I am going to leave you with the one part of her talk that struck a cord with me and resonated through my heart.  She said:

"Don't you dare be the one thing standing in your way."

Don't you dare be that one thing.  You are a child of God.  He is aware of you, He knows your heart, He knows your name.  He knows exactly what you can accomplish if you will only turn to Him and trust Him to lead you through your trials.  He knows who you are and who you can become.