Coffman: Woman are made for ‘Connections’

RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville resident Katrina Coffman urged women to be more intentional about relationships with family, friends and God during a recent presentation at Cowboy Church of Franklin County’s annual women’s conference, “Connections,” The occasion marked Coffman’s third year as conference speaker. She estimated about 100 people attended the event, which she said represents the largest turnout so far. The church holds the conference the first weekend of March each year.

At the center of her message is the idea that people are made for connection, both with one another and with God.

She spoke about how she feels telephones, tablets and social media can create the appearance of connection but don’t replace face-to-face interaction.

“You think you’re connecting through Facebook and different apps on your phone, but you’re not, because connection is face to face,” she said.

Coffman said she was not criticizing technology itself. Instead, she drew a distinction between using devices and letting them consume too much time and attention.

She emphasized that people can easily spend too much time on screens and too little time being present with the people around them.

“Busyness,” she said, is one of the biggest obstacles to what she calls a real connection.

Coffman said people often fill their days with distractions instead of slowing down for conversation, shared meals and time together. She described that pattern as part of a broader shift in daily life with less time spent talking with neighbors or gathering with family.

Coffman tied that theme to her own family life, describing how easy it can be for people to share space without really engaging with one another.

“We sit here and we don’t say anything to each other, and we are in the same room,” she said. “We have a prime opportunity to connect, and too often we don’t do that.”

Coffman encourages being “present in the moment and present with the people that we love.”

The message took on a deeper meaning, she said, after she tore her Achilles tendon last August and spent two months on the couch recovering. During that time, Coffman said, she began thinking more about how she had spent her time and attention.

She said this helped her recognize what she had been missing while caught up in distractions.

“I got bored with the things that I had been consuming my time with, and I put the devices down and actually connected with people, and I realized that’s what I was missing.”

Coffman said she sees connection with God as something that extends beyond church services and into daily life. She said she wants women to have a stronger sense of that relationship in ordinary moments, not only during worship.

“God is not an iron fist that wants to rule over us,” she said. “God is a spirit that wants to have a relationship with us.”