This past weekend I had the great honor of attending the Women of Faith event in St. Paul, MN. I really was not sure what to expect, but I was very excited for it. I have recently found my faith again, and being picked to review this event just seemed like another way God wanted me to know he was here. I knew right away that I wanted to take my mom as my guest. She has attended this event in the past, and has also always been at my side. So if I was gonna have to face emotional things at this event, my mom was the women I wanted there with me.
(My mom and me)
Things did not work out for us to attend the Friday day time events, so I can not say for sure what that part was like. We did attend the rest of the weekend and boy was I in for an emotional ride I was not prepared for. First let me give a little back info on me. I always thought I had God in my life, I know now he was there, I just didn't let him in. I had a fairly good upbringing. There was some physical abuse (I want to clarify, neither of my parents), I fell in love with the bad boy a few times and got into trouble. My biggest heartache though, was in March of 2006 when I was 11 weeks pregnant and had to have emergency surgery because it was an ectopic pregnancy. So one day I was happily pregnant and the next day I was not. That part of my life was a dark hole that I never truly dealt with. I never understood why if God loved me and was there for me that he would take my baby from me. I was told after that (and other female complications) that my chances of having children were slim to none. My journey back to God, has come with my TWO healthy and beautiful children. Madison was 9 months of trying to conceive and she was our miracle! We did not think we could possibly be blessed again. I lost a great friend to Leukemia (he was only 36), and one week later I found out I was pregnant with Carter. With two miracles, my eyes and my heart have opened back up to my faith in God.
This was my weekend...
Friday night was so much fun! A few weeks ago while watching the Wendy Williams Show, she had a singing act called Mary, Mary (Multiple GRAMMY awards, Dove, Stellar,MOBO,American Music Awards, and Soul Train Winners.) on her show. I had never heard of them, but I liked them and thought they were fun to watch. Well, I was surprised and excited to find out they would be at the Women of Faith Event all weekend! They preformed Friday night and that was a lot of fun.
(Mary Mary)
Natalie Grant (4 time GMA Female Vocalist of the year) also preformed on Friday night. I thought that her voice was amazing and I really enjoyed listening to her sing. She told a story about he daughter twirling with Jesus and than sang the song HELD (Orange CD) oh boy did I cry. It was such a beautiful story about her daughter and than the song and her voice was so incredible.
Thankfully their was a comedian on Friday night as well. John Branyan was so funny! My cheeks hurt listening to him. He is however a very brave man, telling jokes about his wife in front of 10,000 women! I am glad he took the chance though, he was hilarious! Just what I needed after crying!
Saturday was different, I cried way more than once!! The stories that the women told touched my heart. If I had not experienced what they were talking about, I knew someone that had. They were so honest and also so vulnerable, getting up and sharing such amazing stories to 10,000 women. Lisa Harper, shared a story about her hardships growing up. The most touching part of her story was going home because her father was dying. (He was not always a nice person) By the time she made it home he had been in a coma, when she walked into the room and her mother announced that she was there he WOKE UP, said he loved her and that was it. How healing for God to let those be the last words she heard, instead of complete silence.
Nicole Johnson, is very funny, she is great at putting on skits. When she put all those costumes away though and told her story it was very powerful. She talked about her marriage ending and how she picked up the pieces and started her life over. I really enjoyed listening to her speak.
She also has a son who wanted to be called Michael Jackson, and wanted to preform for all of us women...
(Nicole Johnson's son who says his name is Michael Jackson! So cute I had to share with everyone! I had to put it on Youtube for it to load on here...enjoy!)
what she went though and her emotions, I felt like I was listening to what I had felt. She really let me open my heart and face the feelings that have been bottled up for years.She is an amazing speaker and I thank her so much for sharing her story!
Shelia Walsh is a Scottish women, listening to her talk is fun even if she would be reciting the dictionary. I love her accent! The stories that she shared were very powerful as well.Her father died at 34 after escaping what they then called the insane asylum. When she was 34 she had a break down and ended up there. Thankfully she prayed and shortly after that prayer, a man came into her room and gave her a lamb, he told her "The Shepard knows where to find you", and walked out. The whole story just gave me goosebumps!
Luci Swindoll, is a 79 year old spitfire. Oh, she sure can make you laugh. My favorite quote that sums up her session is "If you enjoy the world, you will improve it."
My mom said I would be emotionally and physically exhausted when it was all finished and she is completely right. There was so many things to process. I learned so much, and learned so much about my life. It really opened my eyes to so much. My little sister is 13 and I am looking forward to hopefully taking her to the Revolve Tour in March (For teenage girls). I think it will be a great experience for her.
Thank you Women of Faith for renewing my faith and for lots of laughs and a few good cries!!
(I did receive complimentary tickets to review this event, however all the view are only mine!)
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