Doin' Laundry.

This weekend I went to a women's conference at my grandmother's church in Virginia. The speaker was Susie Shellenberger, and the worship was done by ChicKBand. There was also another lady there whose name I can't remember that did 2 skits. Everywoman who spoke and played there was truly amazing. The first "speaker" was the lady who did the skits. Her first skit was her reading a story, the title of which i have forgotten.. haha, about a princess. The story was pretty much an exact portrayal of my life right now. I started to tear up in the beginning, and by the end I was full on crying. The story ended up with lots of hope, and that is part of why I was crying. I was thinking, "Geeze, we haven't even been her 20 minutes, and I've already heard what I needed to hear, and am crying." I was wrong about that though. The first thing Susie spoke about was finding our "dirty laundry." She told us that we needed to find it, and give it to Jesus to cleanse and dispose of. I pretty much instantly knew what mine was, and it is something that I have been trying to wash by myself for a long time. And the longest I've been able to keep it clean has been about 2 weeks. This has SERIOUSLY injured my relationship with God. I have been discouraged about that for a long time, but haven't been able to gather the strength on my own to fix it.
Throughout the day, Susie said everything i needed to hear, to leave encouraged, strengthened and feeling closer to God than I have felt in months. He definitely used her to speak to me, exactly the things I needed to hear to feel encouraged in that moment, and give me the things i will need in the coming months to continue to be strengthened and grow closer to God.
She also told a story, found in Luke, about a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, lying beside a pool. He had all the opportunities to get well, but yet he was still there. So, Jesus asked him, Do you really want to get well?
Susie then asked us that question, Do we really want to get rid of our dirty laundry.
I realized, I desperately wanted to, but I was too scared. Getting rid of the laundry, I would have no excuse to no longer be close to God, and I would have to live a life worthy of the calling that I have recieved. I realized however, that I was ready now, God was giving me the strength I needed to rely on Him, and to know that he was all i needed, and the reasons I were scared were not important.

Also, speaking of laundry,
My loving mother washed a pair of my jeans this week. My first thought was, "Did you check the pockets?"
She replied that she had not, and I said, "bye-bye, babysitting check from the Hauts."
So, I have an amusing conversation waiting for me this week.
Just one of many I'm sure.