Choose To Become

Last month I had the opportunity to attend a Time Out For Women event in my area. Because the event didn't occur until November, the theme and a lot that went along with it was gone in less than a month. The blogs, however, are fortunately still up. If you don't know what a Time Out For Women event is, here is the link: TOFW

The events are sponsored through Deseret Book, so it's somewhat of a commercial enterprise, as the speakers and musical entertainment all have books and/or CD's they are selling at the event in the bookstore.

That said, there is a lot more to TOFW than a really long infomercial. I've been to these in the past, but this one made an impact on me. The theme for 2011 was Choose To Become. The talks were focused on some aspect to help the women attending to find ways they could choose to become a little more of what our Father in Heaven and the Lord know we can be. It's not focused entirely on being a good mother, it's focused on how you can take care of you while you take care of the young ones in your life.

I think the reason this impacted me so much is that for a while now I have felt like I'm at a crossroads in my life. Duh. Yes, I am. My eternal companion has been serving his mission for 11 years now on the other side, my father has been gone 5 years as of December 13th, I will most likely be moving in with my Mother at some point soon to provide her with whatever help she needs, and I have several projects on the burner that have either yet to be finished or haven't been started yet. I'm clearly at a crossroad in my life, it just a matter of figuring out which road to take next.

I thought I had a really good relationship with the Lord, but I'm finding that this relationship was at a child's level. This relationship needs to be at the grownup level if I'm going to really be able to find out where I need to be headed and what I need to be doing with my life. Coasting is no longer an option.

I got an email from TOFW for the DVD with a number of speakers from the 2011 Tour, and found there were some phenomenal talks (only 1 presentation I had seen in Phoenix, the rest were new to me) with scripture references and, for some, even notes for me to use with my studying. This, along with reading The Book of Mormon, reading Increase In Learning by David A. Bednar and going through all of the references is helping me to understand things with the grownup understanding I am seeking. Here's a taste from one of the fantastic videos on the DVD. If you can get your hands on this one, it's well worth the price.