TOFW - Madison, WI

This past weekend was Time out for Women in Madison, WI {about 2.5 hours away from here}. A few months ago a friend asked me if I wanted to be on the staff and help with advertising the event and helping for the weekend. Uhm, YES!! Our "payment" for helping out was a ticket to attend for the whole weekend and reserved seats. {btw, reserved seats is a GREAT payment!}.

It was such a nice break and so much fun to get away with Janet and Christine. {Janet was on the committee with me}.

We arrived and were put right to work, our team was in charge of seating and ushering. Janet and I were in charge of the reserved seating, and handicap entrance. Except for the stairs we had to go up and down, and up and down again....which is why I'm wearing my flip flops instead of my cute wedges I was wearing! 

The presentation was great. There were so many good presenters, but my favorite part of Friday night was David Archuleta. He sang several times during the program, and shared some stories and experiences and his testimony with us. He was so cute, and SO young. I just can't believe he was on American Idol so many years ago and that he is really just 24. At the end of the night, Janet and I were asked to help with the CD signing, uhm, sure! {I quickly RAN and bought us each our own CD so that we could have him sign them!} We helped for about an hour with keeping people in line and keeping the line moving...at the end, after everyone was done we got our CD's signed and then we were able to get a quick picture with David. {we felt a tiny bit bad because we'd been telling everyone all night that they couldn't take pictures with him, I guess that's one of the perks of being on the team}.

We didn't get to sleep until after midnight, and our hotel was about 20 minutes away from the venue and we had to be at the venue at 7:15am, so we had to get up early the next morning....and we were tired!! The presenters the next day were just as good, and just as inspiring. 

They were all amazing and heartfelt and I loved so many of the things they shared, but I was so incredibly inspired by Alissa Parker. She is the mother of Emily Parker who was killed in the school shooting at Sandy Hook in 2012. She was AMAZING. She was inspiring, she was in pain, and real and raw and honest. I loved her story. I loved how much I connected to her. I'm sure it's because I've felt some of the pain she has felt. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a child, especially in such a horrible way, but grief and pain connects you in a way that nothing else can. I knew a tiny portion of the pain she had felt, when she was describing some of the feelings she had, I knew exactly what she meant because I have felt them. Because I have felt grief and pain. She was so inspiring and spoke directly to my heart.

The main point of her talk was to recognize the angels that are all around us, she talked about many of the angels who helped her get through the death of Emily. I think this connection was most of the reason I loved her talk, because I KNOW who those angels are in my life, I KNOW that God sent people to help me get through those horrible hours, days, weeks and months. I KNOW what she was talking about when she said that she couldn't move, that she couldn't do anything for herself and that God sent her an angel to help her, even when she didn't want any help.

I also really liked that she shared a couple of experiences she had when she saw into Emily's new life and she knew she was there with her and that she was happy and living her life. I know that my mamma is happy. I know that she is still working and serving. I know that she is with us, I feel her often. I am grateful for her testimony of eternal life and for her sharing her story with us. Here is a tiny clip from her talk.

I am so grateful for all of the angels in my life. I am grateful for the great Plan of Happiness. I am grateful for my Savior, for my testimony and for the peace and joy that I feel. There are hard days. Thinking about the future is hard, knowing what I'm supposed to do is hard, but I can not deny the peace, joy and contentment I feel that I am in the right place. That God is with me and that I am being watched over by angels, both heavenly and earthly angels. I'm so grateful for my friends and for the sisterhood of the Gospel that we share!! It was a wonderful Time Out weekend!!