True Women

A few months ago my mom asked me if I’d be interested in flying to Indianapolis for the True Woman Conference. “Do you think Adam would be up for daddy-time with the kids? I’m taking the girls and I’ll buy your plane ticket if you want to come with us,” she said. A whole weekend with my mom and sisters, learning and growing together in our faith? Eating restaurant food and staying in a hotel? Five full hours of flying time—just me, my Kindle, and the quiet hum of an airplane? YES PLEASE!

So this past weekend I flew to Indy, and because I’m married to the most amazing man on the planet, I didn’t even have to worry about the kids (Adam took two full days off work, God bless him).

Here are a few conference highlights:

– Girl time with my mom and sisters. I miss you guys already!
– When Nancy Leigh DeMoss, the conference creator, put her hand on my sister’s eight-months-pregnant belly and prayed a blessing over her baby girl. She knows Birgitta has wisely put some distance between herself and her baby’s father and that she needs encouragement and prayers as the birth gets closer.
– Hearing Joni Eareckson Tada talk about forgiveness. She could have talked about what she ate for lunch. I didn’t care. I just wanted to sit there and listen to this wise woman, who sits in her wheelchair and glows with the joy of the Lord.
– Standing together with 8,000 women, hearing all those voices sing, “In Christ alone, my hope is found.”
– Seeing all the mamas who’d brought their babies. Good for them! And yay for me—I’m so thankful I had a break. 😉

But I think my favorite point of the conference happened during Priscilla Shirer’s message on Saturday night, right after my mom and sisters and I spent dinnertime discussing some tough circumstances. What do you do when you’re trying your best to live for God and things seem harder than ever? When you’re confused and frustrated and tired? I tried to think of something uplifting to say as we walked back to the convention center, but my mind was blank.

Then we listened to Priscilla teach from Luke 5. After fishing all night, Simon and his friends had caught nothing. In the morning, they got out to wash their nets. Jesus noticed Simon’s empty boat and decided to use it as a platform, teaching the crowd from it. Later when Jesus told Simon to take his boat out and try again, he and his friends caught so many fish they needed help to get them ashore.

Priscilla asked if any of us were feeling discouraged the way Simon had after fishing all night. She asked if any of us were doing our best to follow God in a specific area, but not seeing any fruit. Then she pointed out that “if Simon’s boat had been full of fish, there would have been no place for Jesus to stand.” He needed it empty before He could use it. “Don’t forget,” she told us, “sometimes God has to ’empty your boat’ before He can get in it and fill it up!”

And isn’t that just like God? I came up short during our dinnertime conversation. I couldn’t think of any encouraging words. But God made sure they were spoken—and that they came to us eloquently, straight from the Bible, and to 8000 women all at once. I am so thankful I belong to such a big God, and that I had extra time to dwell on Him and learn from Him this weekend. Thanks again Mom! 🙂