A little fun in “the garden”

Some Highlights from Flourish

This weekend my joy tank was filled to the brim and overflowing . I had the pleasure of speaking at Flourish, the inaugural women’s conference at St. Columba’s Catholic Church in Dothan, Alabama. What an honor! And what a blessing!

I’m usually content with a pen in my hand and a brand new journal, but getting out in front of a group of people and sharing my testimony is an invigorating and fun complement to this writer’s life. I enjoy these conferences, and while technically, I am working, it’s not work at all when the speeches are over and I get to interact with the women in attendance. They are, after all, why I’m there.

Everyone has a story — and these women are all wonderful to share a little bit with me. Some of their stories are funny, others are touching or heart-warming. And more than a few are intimate and special in their vulnerability and honesty. I hold each of them in my heart and in my prayers.

Here is the gist of the weekend: to bloom where we are planted, a celebration of our uniqueness and the knowledge of He who made us in His image:

“I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our lord’s living garden.” 
― St. Thérèse de Lisieux