Craving the Light

Ladies! Last weekend, I had the oppportunity to attend Time Out for Women with my mother-in-law and two of my husband's sisters. I usually attend this event with a measure of hesitation. I am not a lover of Mormon Pop music. Michael McLean is just a little too much for me to handle. I had to sneak out one year while a man {really wish I could remember his name} sang about how {insert seriously cheesy music here} "life is a lion's den!" and "we have to get out of the lion's den!" I was surprised to see ladies around me wiping their eyes during this performance, but hey...we all feel the spirit in different ways, right?

I continue to go to TOFW because #1 This mama needs a little time away in order to fully appreciate her little ones, and #2 I generally ADORE the speakers.

I will admit though, that while I I always look forward to the words I will hear from the inspired speakers, I really, mostly look forward to the words I will hear from the Lord. For me, TOFW becomes a place of instruction, outwardly and inwardly. I have learned to leave blank pages in my notes to be filled with teachings whispered from the Spirit. Those messages are treasures to me. I cherish them. I trust them. I direct my life to live by and accomplish them.

As I sat listening to the great Merillee Boyack, {seriously, the type of speaker that has you laughing one second and crying the next} my heart was being etched with her understanding of how to B.E.C.O.M.E. She was nearing the end of explaining the ‘M’, offering that to be Meek is essential in becoming, when the lights suddenly shut off. The microphone went dead. The entire building, {and we found out later, the entire block} had lost all power. Earlier in the day we had been told there was a fire in the building that had affected the power in much of the structure, but miraculously not our section of the venue. Even more miraculously, as 2000 women sat in the complete dark, there was no panic. No screaming. No mad dashes for the door. No requests for a break to track down the root of the power outage. We all shared such a desire for Merillee’s light, that we were not concerned about the darkness around us. We, the crowd, encouraged Sister Boyack to come down from the stage and stand among us; so we could hear her, that she might continue to share her wisdom with us. And she did. Someone handed her a flashlight. She stood on a chair, center-crowd, held the flashlight to her face campfire style, and shouted the rest of her address. Ironically, her next topic was ‘E’ for be Enlightened. We all had a quick laugh, and then returned to our state of absolute silence and stillness, so that we could hear her un-amplified words and bask in her sweet light.

The handwriting in my notes is slightly muddled and slanted, as it was written in the dark, but the message is unmistakably clear. The masses, the individual, the church go-er and non-church-goer alike, all crave light. And when faced with the opportunity, will choose the Lord’s light above all other sources. The Spirit spoke clearly to me instructing me in the ways the Lord needs me to be a light, right now, today. Like Merillee, we all have the ability to be a light, to strengthen those around us, and bring clarity and peace, even while surrounded by darkness. The Lord needs us to be that light, and we can be that light. I will forever be grateful for this lesson taught on a dark and rainy day, in a blacked-out Denver Expo Mart, filled with sisters yearning to be filled with the true light of Christ.

Loved it. Looking forward to the next installment, even if it does include the wacky Lion's Den song!