Time Out for Women

A couple weekends ago, I went to Pittsburgh with my friend Melissa, and we attended Time Out for Women. It was SO incredible!!! We had so much fun, and I want to share just a couple of things I learned there. The theme this year was Infinite Hope, and all the speakers presented their messages in so many different ways. Hilary Weeks performed throughout the day - she has such a beautiful voice! Everything she sang was so powerful.
Me with Hilary Weeks

DeAnne Flynn spoke of patterns in our lives. Our children follow the pattern we set for them. Heavenly Father has given us a pattern for our life, and we need to choose to follow it. She said, "Obedience in non-transferable". I love that! We need to establish patterns in our lives and stick to them, because shortcuts rarely pay off.
S. Michael Wilcox told us that hope is something we have to look for or create. When we have a problem, we need to look behind us to rely on what we have already been able to overcome; we need to look forward to see what we need to do while relying on the Lord; and we need to look beside us to realize that we are not alone in our struggles - that Christ is there to give us hope.
Mary Ellen Edmunds was SO hilarious!!! She talked about resilience - bouncing back. She sang the song "High Hopes" to us! She shared with us one of the old commercials the Church put out with the message, "When everything says you can't, believe in the part of you that can". Hope is an anchor to the soul, and she really made me think about my resilience. Do I let things get and keep me down, and if so, how can I increase my resilience? What can I do to increase my hope? I have "High Hopes" that as I ponder and pray about this, I will be able to find the answer that is right for me.
Me with Mary Ellen Edmunds

Kris Belcher is such an inspiration!!! She said, "The worst thing about being blind is not being able to see". As she was still recovering from the surgery that took her eyesight completely, it was around Christmas and she couldn't see the lights. So, everytime it brought her down, she thought "LIGHT" in her mind.
Love - Jesus Christ is a God of Love.
Intelligence - He created all, and can comprehend all.
Grace - We don't have to handle everything on our own; that's why we have a Savior.
Hope - Hope comes from our Heavenly Father.
Truth - He cannot lie. We can depend on Jesus Christ - He will not let us down.
She let us know that even when things are bad, there's still reason to rejoice and laugh and live and struggle, because there is hope in our Savior.
Of course, there's a lot more, and I am very happy that I was able to go. I'm going to challenge each of you as they challenged us - make a list of all the things you hope for, then make a second list of things you hope in.