My Fantastic, Amazing, Kid-Free Weekend Part 1

How---deeee, as the famous Minnie Pearl would say. Home from Nashville and thought I'd share my thoughts with you on the Mops convention.

So you all know we started out driving to Nashville on Wednesday at about midnight. We were tired, but it was a great stress-free, traffic-free drive. We got to our hotel in Nashville in enough time to take a nap, freshen up, and get to the Gaylord (which was a little like being at Disney) for our first night of the convention. We gathered in the main ballroom (and what a production they put on! 3 still cameras, a boom camera, two huge projection screens, 10 mac computers in the back, it was HUGE!) and they started out by letting us know that we may not be perfect mothers, but we ARE the perfect mom for OUR children. God would not have designed us any other way. He specifically and purposefully gave us our children because he knew we would be the best caretakers possible. They also talked about fear and anxiety and how it can rob us of joy and peace. How you deal with conflict is determined by who is in control in your life. I am the world's worst at trying to rely on myself and not enough on God; this really hit home. They recommended we pay attention to the little miracles that God performs in our lives and focus on ALL of the good, no matter how small, and not so much on the bad. We all know horrible things happen, and during the time we are going through the trials it is hard for us to focus on the good, and hard for us to not be angry with God. Conflict is something that happens in all of our lives, but it is also what brings about change.

Next up was some singing by Sara Groves. I had never heard of her before Thursday, but let me tell you, I absolutely love her sound. She reminds me of Norah Jones. She writes her own songs and music, and most of her songs are based on her memories or her children. She had some great things to say, I mean, sing (teehee).

Then we heard an awesome sermon by Max Lucado, as Kelly stated earlier, was about guilt. He something that was very profound: We as mothers often experience guilt, whether its because we didn't do enough housework that day, or we didn't play with our kids enough, I could go on and on. But Max wanted to remind us that not all guilt is good. Not all guilt is the Holy Spirit telling us something. Guilt from God is to change us, guilt from Satan is meant to blame us.

So those were some things that stuck with me this weekend from Thursday. I'll pass on some more things later. Right now, I have to go put some laundry in and play with my kids and take out the new puppy, before I start feeling guilty!