Women's Conference

Thursday and Friday last week I took time off work and attended Women’s Conference. I haven’t been for the last couple years and was very excited to spend some time on my spiritual health. I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by how many women were there – I don’t remember the crowd being so big. Thursday morning I thought we had left in plenty of time but we didn’t end up even entering the Marriott Center until right at 9:00 when the opening session began. Between the rain and the traffic it was quite a feat to get there. The only seats open were in a corner on benches where they dim the lights so that it is dark behind the speaker – makes it a little tricky to try and take notes. We were sitting close to a portal so getting out was easy and I thought it would give me a good head start to get over to the Pardoe Theater for the class I wanted to attend – apparently everyone (huge exaggeration) had the same idea I did.

I hopped in a line that we all hoped would eventually lead us into the theatre. It wound around the lobby and when I finally made it to the front of the line they stopped letting people in – I was 5 from the front. I was upset and not in a place that would allow me to feel the spirit. They kept us standing there for 10 minutes while they made all of the women saving seats inside give them up (boo to seat savers!!!) one by one they let another 20 of us in and I had my spot to enjoy 2 speakers share their thoughts on "Holy habits and Righteous routines." Luckily by the time the class began I had calmed down enough to enjoy the session.

For the next session I set my expectations very low. I wanted to head over to the Wilkenson Center for the "Create of yourself a Masterpiece" class. One of the speakers was a single adult and I was very anxious to hear her as I felt that her insights would hit close to home for me. I said a little prayer as I scrambled up the stairs in the WSC and got in line. I barely made it in and had to walk up every aisle and ask a million (huge exaggeration) people if the seat next to them was taken. Finally the moderator asked that the sisters who were saving seats give them up as it was unlikely that their friends would get in. (boo to seat savers!!!) I sat down in the first empty seat I saw and tried my darndest to avoid the glare of the woman sitting next to me.
As expected, the speaker touched on subjects that were just for me – I was so glad and very grateful that I got in.

By the end of the day I was done. I was there with my sister-in-law and her sister and we had to miss the last session to get home for Shelby’s concert. I couldn’t get away from the campus quick enough. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through another day there. Women’s Conference has always been such an enjoyable couple of days for me. In the past I always left filling spiritually recharged and sad that it was over. The dynamics had changed on me and I was not emotionally prepared for it.

I decided that next year I was going to hold my own women’s conference. I was going to tape WC talks throughout the year and keep the best of them to show. Any one was welcome to join me. You could wear your jammies, we would pause the speakers if you needed to run to the restroom (where there would be no lines) and you could even save seats if you wanted. One of the days we would take a field trip down to campus to shop at the book store – which is half the fun of WC. I was really onto something but I still had one day to make it through this year and I needed to reset my expectations.

The next day it was just Michelle and I and we left 30 minutes earlier then we had the day before and strangely enough we arrived an hour early. We took our time shopping in the little bookstore annex they had set up outside the Marriot Center. We wandered inside, found some seats and enjoyed watching people and making our plan of attack. The opening session was AMAZING. It was a musical program that centered on the theme from Esther 4:14, "Thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this." It was just beautiful and a great start to the day.
We decided to head to the Conference Center for the "What thou would have me say and do today" – which was lovely and inspiring. After that class we decided we would go to the Cougar Eat and have lunch and miss the 2nd set of classes. Michelle would then head over to the Pardoe Theatre to wait in line to assure her spot in the next class and I was going to shop at the book store and then make my way back to the Marriot Center for the 3rd session of classes. It was a good and reasonable plan. As we were leaving the Conference Center we noticed that there were other rooms set up with video feeds to other buildings and in these rooms you would work on service projects. I made a mental note of that option.

We enjoyed a nice, unhurried walk over to the WSC and sat down to lunch and decided that next year it would be fun to have everyone we sit next to in classes sign our notebook and we would take their picture. Like my cute sister-in-law, I could start a conversation with a cardboard box. I will talk to anyone and that is part of the fun of Women’s Conference. All of these crazy women have come together from all over the country, some from other countries, and for 2 days we are there for the same reason. That is the part of Women’s Conference that I would be unable to replicate in my alternative plan. We decided that we would stay on campus next year and enjoy the whole thing – the Thursday night dinner, take part in the service projects and get to know other women like ourselves that just want to be spiritually fed.