Iowa East District LWML Convention

On Friday and Saturday we went to Dubuque as a family for the Iowa East District LWML Convention.  I was supposed to talk about my experiences as a YWR (Young Women Representative) at the National Convention in Peoria last summer.  This was somewhat nerve racking because it was the first time we were taking Samuel on an overnight trip!

On Thursday I put together a list of things to pack for Samuel (in the process though I found out I left some things I needed at home, but oh well, I made do!).  Trying to make sure we had everything we need.  In the end I didn't bring near as much stuff along as I envisioned I was going to have to take for him.

Things went well overall, so that was great!  We left Friday after feeding Sam.  We got there in time to get our room, grab registrations and our box lunch, feed Sam and eat our own lunches, just in time for the opening service.  Which  I would have to say was a nicely done opening service of the convention!

We stayed at the afternoon meeting session for most of it, until I had to leave to nurse Sam.  Ben then joined us a little later and took a nap.  We went down to the banquet that evening, which Sam did very well at, unfortunately we kept him out a little too long and he got a bit over stimulated.  We fed him a bottle while we were there, which he did great with.  When he was getting a little fussy around 9:30, I took him back to the hotel room so he could sleep and not be around all those people and the noise.  Well, that was the right decision, because by the time we reached the room Sam had worked himself up into quite the fit!  Once I got him settled down, I fed him and Ben showed up.

Sam wasn't so keen on sleeping that night, but again, we over stimulated him and I am sure that had something to do with it (not to mention he wasn't sleeping in his usual room!).  The next morning I got up, fed him and went to breakfast.  We didn't register Ben for the 2nd day, so he chilled in the hotel room during the morning.  When it was time for Sam's mid morning feeding I went back to the room and nursed him.  Then I took him along for an interest session and lunch, just to give Ben a break (and he had to load up and check out of the room!).

I gave him back to Ben during lunch.  During the afternoon session I got to talk about my experiences at the national convention last summer.  You can read my top tens post about it here.  I opted to use humor when I talked about it, because most of the people there attended the national convention.  I closed with a few points on participation of young women in LWML.  Hopefully I was able to give them an idea of something they can do to encourage it!  (the idea was personal invitations-not expecting the note in the bulletin to attract them)

I can say our first overnight was a success and the convention was good!  I do regret that we didn't have time to walk through the exhibit hall.  We just kept missing them!  Oh well, that does happen!  At least I have probably seen most of the booths present at different conventions and gatherings.  With that though, now I sometimes personally know the exhibitors!  So it would have been nice to go through and see who was there that I knew.

After being at convention I have a renewed interested in trying to get young women involved.  The things that LWML does is truly amazing!  I think us younger women have things to learn from those lovely older ladies who work so hard at doing all that LWML does.  No, I really don't appreciate sitting through business meetings, but I love that missions are being funded so that God's Word can reach more people!

Fired Up!

So this evening I had Hope Circle at Church.  It is the LWML Circle that I attend.  What I wanted to tell all of you who might be out there reading my blog (and I know some people do!) is that we are about ready to start a 2 year process of reading through the Bible.

We are doing it with the Today's Light Bibles, which is a great devotional Bible.  It provides a preview of the reading, then you read scripture and at the end it has a summary/devotion of sorts to bring it all together and most importantly remind us of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Bible can be purchased in brown or in purple either at the links provided or even at your local Christian Bookstore.  If you want to be part of our discussions online please follow this link and subscribe to the blog on the left side.  As we want everyone to be "In the Word, Of the Word, Walking with our Lord" this is something that is open to everyone, male or female.

The actually Bible Study that meets is just for women though, as it is an LWML group.  :-)

I just can't wait to celebrate the 4th of July with the first reading from this wonderful devotional Bible.  I have done it before and I think highly of it.  Please consider joining me!  If you don't want to purchase the Bible, you can still subscribe to the blog and we'll make sure you know what the readings are.

LWML Convention: Top 10 Things Learned

So last Wednesday thru Sunday I was in Peoria, Illinois at the LWML Biennial Convention.  I found myself going there because I was selected to be a Young Woman Representative (YWR) for my district.  A friend from CUW was the other one selected for my district.  I did not know what I was getting myself into...

Now for all you wonderful ladies that do not fit the stereotype, to many of us younger women LWML (Lutheran Women's Missionary League) is a mystery to us and mainly made up of white and gray haired ladies that run the kitchen at Church.  Now some of us might know this isn't completely true (Ok, some of us had mothers involved in it and they still aren't white or gray haired), but I don't think many of really know what the LWML does or what it's purpose is.

Well, going to the convention was a learning experience.  Somethings that I did discover is that it is not about a bunch of older women, wearing purple, asking for mites and running the kitchen at Church.  Now I think deep down inside I knew that all of that isn't what the whole organization is about, but I never really knew what it was about either.

I would just like to give you a brief rundown on what I found out.  If you are part of an LWML society and would like to get young women connected in your Church, let me know and I will try to share some of the wisdom that I gleaned from the weekend.

10.  Not all the women have white and gray hair.  :-)

9.  Despite some lunch serving problems and technical difficulties Phyllis Wallace was still a great speaker and found the humor in a frustrating situation.

8.  I still don't completely understand the problem with the word "intentional."

7.  The first worship service I have ever attended where when written "women only" for a hymn stanza it didn't sound very different from when men and women were singing.  However, when it said "men only" you suddenly knew where to find all the men in the crowd!

6.  There are some younger LWML groups started and thriving out there.

5.  The LWML national president that finished her term is a wonderful lady who has a focus on Women "in the word, of the word, walking with our Lord."  And who would knock Bible Study?

4.  National Conventions are busy and I came home feeling way more sleep deprived than I ever imagined at an "older women's" conference!

3.  Katie Stam is not only completely gorgeous, but very Lutheran and an amazing speaker who made everyone cry at her speech.

2.  I couldn't walk anywhere without running into someone I know or at least someone who has strong connections to someone I know.

1. LWML Mites are mighty strong in supporting missions!

They raised $1,825,000.00 to go towards missions and this page to see where they went to in the past.

Verdi

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sing the Verdi Requiem with the community choir I am a member of.  This work is demanding on the choir that sings it and the orchestra that plays it.  The choir was composed of our choir and the choir from a local college.  We put in long rehearsals and many extra rehearsals during the week before the concert and when it came to concert time, I was only able to sing the Saturday evening concert, as I developed a bad sore throat before the Sunday afternoon one. Regardless, it was COMPLETELY worth it!  Check out this video of the Dies Irae.

It kind of reminds me of several undertakings that I have had since Christmas.  Currently I am training for a marathon (see last post) and fundraising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Not only am I putting in long training sessions (which getting sick made very difficult recently), but I am working on raising at least $2,900 (but I would love to surpass that by a few hundred if I could).  So again, I am doing something that is very demanding and takes a lot of long hours and extra work.

Also I am working on building up my tutoring business.  Tutoring includes working evenings and doing a lot to prepare for my students.  Yesterday I have been working a lot on gathering and creating resources all in one convenient location.  Check out my other blog Spanish Practice and see the work I have done on that.  Feel free to use those resources and pass them on to others that are learning Spanish.  The materials on the site are of course focused on my students' needs and catered to the curriculum their schools are using.

I am active at Church as well and recently have been selected as a Young Women's Representative for the LWML 2011 National Convention.  When it comes to LWML I am also helping start a new circle at Church.  Right now we are focusing it on other young women in the congregation and basically we meet and have Bible Study once a month.  So far we've met twice and I have really enjoyed it so far!  I can't wait to get more involved in LWML as time goes on.

Along with that I am also still working as a substitute teacher.  March was rather slow with it, but that was fine.  We had a lot of company and I was sick.  It is also to be expected due to spring breaks being on different weeks.  There are just not a lot of jobs in March.  I still enjoy working as a substitute.  I think what I like the best is seeing the students and giving them as hard of a time as they try to give me.

I am just amazed at how busy I have been since student teaching finished, but it has also all been a lot of fun.  It keeps me busy and at times I am probably busier than I should be (my husband can attest to that), but I can say that I at least enjoy the work I am doing and the activities I am involved in.