Up until the end of August, I hadn’t even planned on going to the Influence Conference. But as I saw women talking about the conference online, something kept tugging at my heart. I felt like I was supposed to be there.

Now, I knew it was a big leap. We have a young daughter, my husband was going to be out of town the weekend before, and we tend to have a lot of church events on the weekends.

But Michael and I prayed about it, and we both felt like I should go.

So, I did. Bought the ticket, booked the hotel room, filled the car with gas and drove. I had to be back by Saturday night, so the time was fast but so rich. I connected with so many wonderful women, talked about things that truly matter, and slept in a hotel room all by myself (glory, glory, hallelujah)! The weekend was a gift from God, truly.

I’m grateful.

God opened up many places in my heart last weekend, but one of the biggest things I’m wrestling through is what Lara Casey spoke about on Friday night. She walked us through a workshop focused on some very powerful questions, and although it is incredibly simple, the one phrase that I keep coming back to is this one, which she asked us to answer on our own: “Life is too short.”

Life is too short to make it all about me.

Life is too short to not obey Jesus wholeheartedly.

Life is too short to live out of fear.

These are huge statements, when the rubber actually meets the road. If life is too short to make it all about me, what has to change in how I think, how I respond, what I spend my time doing? If life is too short to not obey Jesus wholeheartedly, how do I have to start living and thinking differently? If life is too short to live out of fear, where do I need to let His perfect love chase away those places tangled up in being afraid?

I’m just starting to scratch the surface of these things, but these questions have the power to change my life, in the best way. Life is too short for anything less than all of my heart, all of my attention, all of my focus on Christ.

So, now it is your turn. How would you answer this phrase?

Life is too short.

And because I know there a lot of women who wanted to go to the conference but couldn’t, I want to share my #influenceconf swag bag with one of you! Check out my Instagram account to toss your hat in the ring–and hopefully, win!