Time Out--All the Good!

Monday, November 22, 2010

This past weekend, I got sent to TIME OUT (a.k.a. Time Out for Women). And let me tell ya, this little getaway came at the perfect time for me. I had such a stressful, crazy week last week--seriously, I felt like I was ready to snap! (When Jenny bursts into tears at the end of each day, you know that Jenny really, really, really is a woman who needs time out.) So it was a tender mercy that the Lord provided me with the opportunity right when He did!

The TOFW that I attended was at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Grandma Johnson, Aunt Sharon and I drove down on Friday and, after stopping at a shoe store in Bountiful on the way down, met Aunts Sheri and Teri and cousins Maria and Laura at the coffee shop at The Little America Hotel. There we dined on chicken quesadillas and talked and laughed and laughed and talked. I can't tell you how wonderful that laughter felt! All my stress just--POOF!!!--evaporated! After dinner, we hopped on Trax to head over to the Salt Palace for our evening of inspiration. Here's a picture of the happy little group (before Brianna joined us):



And here's a picture with me in it--Grandma didn't realize we were taking another picture so she started to head out. I thought it cute:



Anyway, we got to the Salt Palace and got pretty decent seats, given the fact that 4000 women were there! That night, we got to hear from Sister Virginia H. Pearce (former counselor in the general YW presidency and President Hinckley's daughter); Sister Heidi Swinton (who wrote President Monson's biography); and a really awesome Broadway singer, Dallin Vail Bayles (who played Hyrum Smith in that Temple Square movie about Joseph Smith). His voice was incredible (he just finished being The Phantom on tour for the past two years)and the first song he sang was "How Can I Keep from Singing?" The answer? HE SHOULDN'T.

The night was wonderful and Sister Pearce, in particular, said absolutely everything I needed to hear. Balm of Gilead. Loved it. But at the end of three hours, my backside was completely numb--we're talkin' seriously sore! So we hobbled on out of there and headed off to sleep. Brianna, Laura and I slept at Aunt Teri's house. Grandma and Aunt Sharon were at Aunt Sheri's. I slept in Aunt Teri's "Tuscany" room (Absolutely LOVE that she's named that room "Tuscany." How cool is that?) after declining Laura and Brianna's offer to stay up and have "girl's night" and play games. "Every party has a pooper, that's why they invited . . .me!" It was midnight and, let's face it, the old (mostly-brown) mare just ain't what she used to be! So I hit the sack.

The next morning, we headed back to the Salt Palace for another full day of great speakers and music! Aunt Teri had gone really early to get good seats, and she was the CAMP CHAMP!!! She got the most fabulous seats, which I greatly appreciated-- after overcoming my guilt for letting Aunt Teri wake up early to do that alone. The flesh (specifically MY flesh)was weak. But anyway, that day was amazing! Brad Wilcox gave the most powerful talk on the Atonement. And all of the other speakers were incredible, too. But the biggest highlight to me was when Hilary Weeks sang a song called "All the Good." After how I'd been feeling all week, just so stressed and so inadequate and beating myself up for all of my mistakes, this song was just for me--I'm convinced of it! I want to share the lyrics (although it's better with music):

All the Good by Hilary Weeks

The minutes tick by
Lost in the moonlight
As the day echoes through her mind.
She wasn't enough
She wonders if she ever will be
Mistakes are all she sees
In the shadows of the night.
And she forgets
When the guilt fades her memory
She forgets about

The good things she's done
The kind words she said
The tiny victories that no one sees
And the changes she's made.
When the count comes in
As she's adding up the day
In the midst of the coulds and shoulds
Help her remember
All the good.

I've given my all
I run until I'm weary
And I reach up every time I fall
I know who I am
I feel it deep within me
But the best of me hides
While my weaknesses all shine
And I forget
Until He patiently reminds me
I forget about

The good things I've done
The kind words I said
The tiny victories that no one sees
And the changes I've made
When the count comes in
As I'm adding up the day
In the midst of the coulds and shoulds
Help me remember

He looks on the heart
Fills in the missing pieces
And we can be sure that He knows and won't forget

The good things we've done
The kind words we've said
The tiny victories that no one sees
And the changes we've made
As the day comes to a close
And we've done all we could
Look through the mirror of His love
And He will show us
All the good

This is my new theme song. I bought the CD and am determined to listen to it at the end of each day! Thank you, Hilary Weeks! Anyway, after the day of being spiritually fed, we all headed back to The Little America coffee shop for some truly evil dessert. But the sad thing was, the dessert wasn't as good as we all wanted it to be--if I'm going to gain weight over a dessert, it had better be worth every calorie! But the company was terrific and we all had a wonderful visit again.
After dessert, I started getting nervous about the weather so we headed out. And the weather was truly crummy to drive in! I rode with Brianna, though, and we were able to have a really good talk and lots of laughs, which kept my anxiety-prone mind off of the fear I have of meeting an untimely death on a snowy road. We made it home just fine.

That weekend was truly a gift for me. I left this house as a cranky, stressed-out old biddy. And I came back with a light heart and a song in my soul and flowers and hearts in every skipping step! James just may want to send me to TOFW once a week--too bad it's only once a year. I'll perhaps have to fall back on chocolate and haircuts to see me through. Anyway, if you're reading this, you should really go to Time Out for Women if you have the chance! Here's the link and schedule for next year!

http://deseretbook.com/time-out