TOFW - UT Edition

February 1st, I got to take a little trip to Utah to have some girl time with my mom!  (Patrick was brave enough to let me leave for 4 days!)  :)  We did some shopping and eating and hanging out, but the main attraction was Time Out For Women.  "Higher" is the theme for this year. 

Think Higher
Believe Higher
Live Higher

"So are MY ways HIGHER than your ways..."  Isaiah 55:9

It was an interesting theme, and I had high hopes.  TOFW is always good, but this year I struggled a little more than usual to get out of it what I was hoping for.  That being said, it was still very good, just different.  :)  Here are some of my favorite thoughts and quotes:

"It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that will determine the outcome of your story."
-Pres. Uchdorf
"Your Happily Ever After"

"We should strive to be a blessing to our fellow human beings."
-Dean Hughes

"Heavenly Father did not send us to earth to fail, but to succeed gloriously!"
"Speak hopefully, speak encouragingly, especially about ourselves."
"Live as if you matter."  ...Higher Thinking.
"Words are sacred and must be used with great care."
-Hilary Weeks

Check your assumptions!  (This was one of my favorites!!)
How Heavenly Father Works:
1.  Trust Him to act according to the bigger picture!
     * Be thankful the God lets you struggle for awhile, it causes an increase in Faith.
2.  What if life is fair?
     * Fair is not that we are all equal - it's everyone getting what they need when they need it.
     * Things don't happen for everyone the same way all the time.
     * If you are in perfect balance you are not moving - Risk = Progress.
     * Heavenly Father does answer prayers - but not always when or how we want or expect.
3.  He guides and protects my children more than I will ever know! 
     * Sometimes they get hurt, experience helps them grow, but it doesn't mean they aren't being protected.
4.  He needs me to use the gifts He has given me! 
     * Am I?
-Emily Watts

Letting go of Your Fears!
Fear is a king of intentional storytelling, that we are all born to do.
You decide how your story ends!
Don't spend time looking back at past disappointments or failures!
Fight your Fears:
1.   Fight fear with Power.
     *Your identity, even if you don't like it, is your comfort zone - we are not meant to live in our comfort zone!
     *Fight fear with the power of Change!
      (2 Corr. 5:17)
2.  Fight fear with Love.
     *When you stop praying for what your heart really wants, your heart stops wanting what you weren't willing to pray for.
     *The tragedy isn't not getting what you want, it's not wanting it anymore.
     *God will not waste a miracle on a doubter.
     *There is no fear in Hope.
3.  Fight fear with a Sound Mind.
     *Sometimes we use the notion of "God's will" as a way to abdicate the responsibility to exercise our own.
     *He expects us to choose, He trusts us!
     *Involve Him.  Learn His ways.  Then make choices for your life. 
Have the courage to rise above your fears!
-Laurel Christensen

It was a great experience!  And I felt like there were things I needed to hear, it always seems to work that way.  I'm grateful that I got to go, and it was so much fun to share it with the ladies in my life! :)

I also got to see these guys!  ;) 

It was a fun weekend!  I haven't gotten to do a trip like this by myself before, so I enjoyed every minute of "freedom".  Hahaha.  But don't be deceived, I missed my little family!  Probably more than they missed me!  Hahaha.