Over 3000 Forever Changed at Rockford Women’s Conference
The spectacular 11th annual Original Women's Conference at the BMO Harris Bank Center has ended but the memories and lessons are eternal.
The conference was full of inspirational music, God-loving motivational speakers, and organizations that help people around the world. My girlfriend attended the entire conference, and I was fortunate to be asked to play music for the dance party after the first evening of the conference outside the arena on Elm St. (but that's a story for a little later). So what did my girlfriend take away from this conference you might ask? Here are some of the things that she shared with me.
She is enough. This was the general theme of the conference. But it was more than just a theme. It was a new way to live her life. She learned that she is enough in life. Brave enough, strong enough, pretty enough, smart enough, talented enough, God loving enough, giving enough... she is enough because God made her enough. And he is what defines her. Not all of the things that society thinks we should be.
Rockford is full of amazing women. There were over 3000 of them there loving on each other, lifting each other up, and encouraging each other. During the dance party after the first night of the conference, I mentioned around 9:30 p.m. that I had just found out that my daughter made the cheerleading team at her middle school, and this is how the women attending the conference 'lifted her up.'
Generous hands are never empty. This really resonated with her because she is a single mom who like many people has had her fair share of financial struggles over the years. God has always provided for her at the end of the day though. So she decided to give back by sponsoring a little girl in Burkina Faso, a country in Africa. Her and her kids mailed off their first letters to her today.
Miracles happen. Even if you don't fully believe they are going to. Imagine what would happen if we all really believed the things that we prayed for would come true. She heard a story from a woman who traveled to Haiti to visit a small village from where she had adopted her daughter. She was teaching the women there about God and someone asked her to preform a miracle by healing them. So she prayed over the woman, thinking that the miracle would be a doctor coming to the village to help her or something like that. But instead the miracle actually happened and the woman was healed right there in front of everyone proving to them that God exists.
You can do anything you want in life, but you have to go after it. You can't just sit on the couch and expect it to come to you. You have to find your purpose and your passion in life and reach for it. Three things that usually stand in your way are limitations (untrue beliefs that you have about what you can and cannot do) wrong expectations (trying to do things the way that society or someone else wants you to do them instead of your way or God's way), and intimidation (fear of the outcome or of failing). When you finally set out to do the thing that you want to do, God will put people in your life to help you along the way. You just have to take the first steps.
If you think attending this conference is something you'd like to do next year, if you register before May 6th, it's at a dramatically reduced rate. All your questions can be answered by clicking here.