Women's Conference

Our stake held a women's conference yesterday and the speaker was Sister Julie Beck, the General Relief Society President. She came to our stake center and spoke with us for an hour and it was one of the best hours I've spent in a long time. She has long been one of my favorite speakers. She used to be in the General YW Presidency and last year was called as General RS Pres. She brings an appreciation of womanhood and invites you to rejoice with her in our divine roles as women.

She spoke for a few minutes and then opened up the meeting and answered four questions that were asked. I marveled at the scriptures and quotes from prophets that she brought up, also at her love and humor as she shared some of her and her family's life experiences. Here are some of the points that were highlights for me.

• In the beginning, she asked us to stand as the different titles applied to us. We saw the mothers of preteens (0-12), the mothers of teenagers, the single under the 30, the older single, the empty nesters, the temple workers, etc. Then she said, "But these are all just categories. While they tell us a bit more about your day to day experiences, they don't define you." As I pondered that thought, I came up with some changes to make in my life so that I won't be defined by my category. I am a daughter of God and need to live accordingly.
• Food for thought: "What will be important in 2000 years?"
• As she addressed time management a little bit, she shared a lesson she learned from her father-in-law. He was a steel worker and worked different shifts: the day shift, the swing shift and the night shift. She said that we often end up working most of all three shifts (especially as mothers) and sometimes there is no way around that. Some of us work our day shift for someone else even. The most important shift that we should focus our efforts on is the swing/afternoon shift. That is where we have the most opportunities to influence our families. We usually feed them (both physically and spiritually) and the teaching moments come often.
• She also encouraged us to rejoice in the choice that we made: to come to Earth and have these experiences. To enjoy and appreciate the blessings that Heavenly Father bestows on us.

Even way back in the cultral hall, the Spirit was strong. I hadn't expected to learn so much or to be so moved. I'm so grateful I got to hear her yesterday. I'm also grateful that Jim stayed home with all the girls. It made all the difference to be able to listen for myself. (Every time I heard a baby cry, I thought, "Not mine!") Afterwards, I also got to go out to dinner with some friends in my ward, which was a treat.

Jim had a couple friends over too. Between the three dads, they had 6 kids: 4, 3, 18mo, 7mo, & 4mo. They ordered a couple pizzas, played some video games and had fun. They all survived the evening, but by the time everyone left and our kids were in bed, Jim was exhausted!!!