There And Back Again – A Speaker’s Tale

Last updated on: November 18, 2015 at 10:56 am by Rebecca Frech

There And Back Again – A Speaker’s Tale 2015-11-18T10:56:21-05:00 Rebecca Frech

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Two and a half years ago, my book had just come out and I was beginning to do some speaking to women’s and homeschool groups, and was lining up more talks for the future. I felt like my life had a clear direction that it was headed in, and I was excited to get there.

And then Ella got sick.

Within weeks, it was clear that she wasn’t getting immediately better and I began to cancel all of the dates in my calendar. I had no idea what I would be doing that far in the future, and so I canceled everything.

And nobody invited me to come and speak any longer.

The invitations and inquiries dried up as I knew that they would. While we were battling the health care system, I was glad to have fewer things on my plate. Then she stabilized and began thriving in her new life and our family adapted to our new reality, and I realized how much I missed the career I had almost had.

I put it into God’s hands and just did the work He placed in front of me. Sometimes it was the regular stuff of being a homeschooling mom, and other times it was exciting like a new radio show.

After our episode on the importance of Self-Care aired, a Catholic women’s group from here in Dallas invited me to come and speak about the topic at their monthly meeting. I eagerly agreed to do it. This is a topic I’m passionate about, I truly believe that it is a moral issue when moms neglect their own care, and it’s one I’d spoken on many times in the past. I had a well-polished talk in my computer just waiting to be resurrected.

The day before I was scheduled to speak, I opened the file one more time to double check that it was still there…and found it completely corrupted. It was unreadable and could not be saved in the limited amount of time that I had available. So I spent the whole of Monday trying to recreate from memory and hour long talk I hadn’t given in two years without any notes available.

Yesterday morning, I drove to the meeting with an outline of what I was going to say, and a friend’s advice to “just wing it. They’ll never know what you meant to say in the first place, and will be none the wiser” floating around in my brain. It was good advice, but I didn’t take it.

As I stood in front of that group of women, I saw a group of women very much like me. Their lives aren’t perfect and they have learned to roll with it. Which is why I threw my friend’s advice out the window and opened with “Hi. I had this whole talk laid out and prepared with cool visuals and funny pictures. Instead, my computer ate it yesterday, so you’re going to get the extemporaneous version. I’m flying by the seat of my pants here, ladies, and that should be interesting seeing as how I’m wearing a skirt.”

What followed was a blend of talk and discussion. It could have been more polished, and better laid out. My ADD did run away with me at one point, but I managed to wrestle it back onto the path. I was rusty and nervous, and a little unsure. They laughed at the appropriate places, and many of them even took notes (which is always a plus)…so I knew that I wasn’t completely horrific.

Then last night I got Facebook messages from a couple of the women who were there. “You spoke right to me and said exactly what I needed to hear.” And I smiled. That was really all that I wanted. I wanted to encourage at least one woman to take control of her own health and well-being, and it seems that I may have. I don’t know that I will ever be invited to do this again (but I wouldn’t mind it for sure.) If not, I will continue on as I have for the past 18 months, doing what God puts in front of me to do.

But if someone wanted to hand me a microphone…I certainly wouldn’t complain about it a bit.

**If you’d like to talk about me coming to speak for your group or event, shoot me an email at shovedtothem (at) yahoo (dot) com I can’t promise uncorrupted computer files, but I can promise to inform and entertain.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 11, 2015

Dear Father, Please Just Be Honest With Us

Next Post

November 19, 2015 Help for the Thanksgiving Awkward Family Conversations - a Giveaway

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian group is known for door-to-door evangelism and "Watchtower" magazine?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mennonites Jehovah's Witnesses Lutherans Methodists