I went to the Women of Faith conference in Indy
this weekend. My friend Kelsey and I went down to Shirley's house and we had a great time! We spent Friday morning garage saling. I didn't really get a great "tuck and run" find of the day but got some fun things for #4 and a few things for myself too. :) Friday night we went down to the conference. We had fantastic seats-11th row!
The conference itself was great. I enjoyed the speakers and they each had their own spin and take on the theme "believe God can do anything". My BFF Laura brought down about 75 women!! It was fun to see her and hug her for a little bit. :)
Third Day gave a concert on Saturday and that was fun! I was emotional here and there throughout the whole conference but when they sang "cry out to Jesus" I lost it. It was a healing cry though and I was able to give praise to God. He's so good to me. Sometimes it feels selfish to constantly think of my hurt and pain and not be able to relate to anything else during a sermon or song or when someone is speaking but I do know that I am healing and this is a season. It will always be there but not as prominent.
I knew that I wanted to meet Angie so after she spoke Kelsey, Laura and I quick got in line to meet her. Just thinking about what I would say to her brought me to tears so I thought about it for a bit.
If you don't know, and I'm guessing many of you don't (smile) Angie Smith is an author and a mama who lost a baby girl 5 years ago. They too, had a poor diagnosis before birth so they were able to grieve and plan before Audrey was born. Afterward she wrote a book called "I Will Carry You" that detailed her pregnancy with Audrey, her birth, and afterward. I had read it a year or two before getting pregnant with Ella and have read bits and pieces since. It's a book that has brought healing and hope to many babyloss mamas.
When I met Angie, I told her that I had a baby girl last summer who lived for two hours and that God is healing me. But her words and her story are being used by Him to help so many others. It was a sweet moment for me and I pray a moment of confirmation for her that she's following God, even in the hard.
We shared a bit about our girls. They both lived the same time time. They both cried (which wasna blessing to their mamas. :)) It felt good to share with her about my Ella. She had spoken at the conference how she loves being Audrey's mama and still parenting her by speaking her name and I feel the same way.
So meeting Angie Smith was a highlight of a great weekend for me. I haven't really done anything like that before but I'm so glad the Lord gave me the strength to speak to her (and not be a blubbering fool!) and to share with her that the Lord is using her to help so many.
