On Saturday I had the privileged of attending the Praise 103.9’s Inspiration & Music Conference. The conference was great. There were workshops, vendors, followed by a concert. I was not able to stay for the concert but I did go to several workshops including the Q & A with Mary Mary. The Q & A with The Marys was a highlight for me as I love their show on WeTv. It was an informative and inspiring day, one living up to the name of the event.
I invited my brother to come along with me to the conference. He was an excellent choice. We were able to split up for the first set of workshops. I attended Single and Saved while he attended Marriage Beyond the Vows.
Here are my takeaways from Single and Saved:
- Lots of us who are single say we are ready to have a relationship. But are you really? Are their parts of you that are not ready? What are you doing to prepare yourself for a partner? Ask yourself, what is it like to live with me???
- None of us are perfect. Know the parts of you that are a mess so you can work on them.
- Your relationship with yourself is non-negotiable. Learn to love yourself.
- Be comfortable in your singleness. Take advantage of the fact that you have time to focus on yourself, your relationship with God, and the things that God has placed in your life like Chasing Joy. Now is the time to focus on things that would suffer if your attention was divided.
- When you have mastered your relationship with God and yourself God will see that you are ready for additional relationships. When this has happened and when God decides that it is not good for you to be alone He will send your partner.
- We all have issues from our past that can get in the way of having a relationship or a successful one. Regarding those issues we need to uncover and discover so we can recover so that you are ready for a healthy relationship.
I think a lot of these points can also apply to those who are married. Have you ever thought about what is it like for your spouse to live with you. Do you know what parts of you are a mess? Are there uncovered issues from your past that are impacting your marriage or how you relate to your spouse?
Of the points above the ones that resonated the most with me were when you have mastered your relationship with yourself and God He will see that you are ready for a relationship. I think my relationship with God is good and steadily improving. My relationship with myself is still not where I’d want it to be. Just today I had to post on both Twitter and the Chasing Joy FB page, “No Negative Self Talk” because I caught myself looking in the mirror engaging in that bad habit. There is much room for improvement in my relationship with myself.
There is much more info for me to pass on from the conference but I don’t want to bore you with too much at one time. Later this week I’ll continue the recap with more takeaways fro the Single & Saved workshop, my brother’s takeaways from the Marriage Beyond the Vows workshop, tips from the Faith & Finances workshop, and the awesomeness of Mary Mary.
If you are single do any of the above resonate with you? Are you ready for a relationship? If you are married which if any of the above do you feel is a beneficial takeaway for a married person?
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Thank you for sharing what you received from the workshop at the conference. There were good points that are not only essential for the Saved and Single, but are important for married women as well. Even after the exchange of vows it is important to continue to work on you – and you in relation to another part of you (the spouse). As a couple experiences life as a married unit you uncover more of what God has designed you for, and you have to be able to nurture that element as well.
So true. As singles, we must work on ourselves, constantly reflect on how we can be better and accept our flaws. When we are honest with ourselves, we can create more genuine relationships with others.
Sounds like it was a nice conference 🙂 Yes, getting to know you is so important before entering into a relationship. All really great points!
Thanks Nae! It was a good conference.
It seems as if you and your brother both had a great time at the conference. You are right that a lot things that are good for single women are good for us married ladies to pay attention to as well.
Thanks Janeane, Yes we had a great time. It was nice for us to spend the time together. We don't get to do that often.
I thought it would be useful for everyone to ask themselves what is it like to live with themselves.
This looks like a great workshop. All of it resonates with me, I say that I'm ready, but I realize that there are still things I need to figure out.
Glad you could relate Laila.
All good points! I would add, do the work before you get married, because trying to do it after the fact is pretty difficult. Thanks for the recap!
Thanks Eva. I thin that was part of the mission of the workshop, to help singles better them selves and enjoy their current place in life.