Justin’s cousin, Dana, author of Mamalogues, invited me to attend the Hearts at Home national conference in Bloomington, IL with her this past Saturday. Hearts at Home is an organization for Christian mothers that is interested in having Dana present at future conferences. Because they were wooing Dana, we were official “VIPs” with our own personal guide, admission to the VIP room and even assigned seating with the conference speakers. I was very impressed.
This was a conference for moms, by moms. Women’s touches were everywhere. The Illinois State Bone Student Center was transformed into a Hearts at Home extravaganza. Every detail was perfectly planned and executed from the cute signs with quotes from kids on the backs of the bathroom stall doors, to the greenery that turned the men’s bathroom urinals into porcelin planters, down to the matching circles that adorned everything imaginable including, the conference bags, signage, nametags, and even the kleenex boxes. It was so apparent that they made every effort to make each of the 6500 moms present feel special and valued.
HAH 
I gleaned so many golden nuggets about how to be the mom and wife I am meant to be. Many ideas for future posts! The speakers, especially Lysa Terkeurst, were funny, touching, insipirational and very realistic about what it takes to be a Christian mom in today’s world. I left feeling filled-up with ideas, emotion, and thankfulness for the blessing of being Justin’s wife and Audrey’s mom. Sure, it’s not easy, but one look around that room filled with 6500 other Christian moms made me realize that I’m not meant to do it alone. Not only with the help and support of my family and friends, but with trust in knowing that Audrey is God’s child more than she is mine. He chose me to be her mom for a reason and my new prayer is that He will help me daily to fill the gaps in my own ability with His grace, wisdom and love.
