Thursday, March 22, 2007

Hearts at Home Weekend

Last Friday and Saturday, I did something virtually unheard of - I left town for two days without children. Mind you, I adore my children and love my life as a full-time wife and mom, but it was time for me to take a little mini-break and focus on Becky for just a couple of days. I went to the Hearts at Home national conference in Bloomington IL. Hearts at Home is an international ministry for moms - as their slogan says, "Helping Moms Love Their Lives". I made the two-hour drive south with my friend, Lisa, and met my cousin Kaye and her friend Robyn, who flew in together from Vermont. We spent the two days attending workshops on subjects such as parenting, taking time out for ourselves, spending time with God, and hospitality. The first main speaker was Jill Savage, president of Hearts at Home, who, I just found out, adopted one of her sons from Russia. We chatted for a few minutes while she signed her book for me, and we talked a little about international adoption. The other main speaker was Lisa Whelchel, whom you may remember as Blair from the 80s sitcom "The Facts of Life". She has a great sense of humor, along with a deep faith - put the two together and she was a wonderful speaker. We enjoyed praise music led by a three-woman group from California called "Crimson Bridge" - they led a praise and worship time at the Friday night Mom's Night Out, and it was particularly moving and powerful. It was just an all-around awesome time for moms (over 5,000 of us) to come together to share, laugh, cry, learn and pray. Lisa, Kaye, Robyn and I have already decided to attend again next year!

Kaye and me with Hearts at Home president and author, Jill Savage.

Me with Lisa Whelchel as she signed my copy of her book, "Creative Correction".


Lisa speaking at the Mom's Night Out.

"Crimson Bridge" performed - I got one of their great CDs.
Kaye, Robyn, me and Lisa at Mom's Night Out.

Bag Ladies with our complimentary Hearts at Home tote bags.

3 comments:

Amy said...

Looks like such a great time. Moving around so much, I really miss having a great group of friends. You are so blessed!

Thanks for your comments! I need to check out the other blogs.

Mommy Spice said...

OK, I'm totally jealous. I was a huge Facts of Life fan in the 80's. I have read a lot about Lisa Welchel's faith now. I also loved Growing Pains, and love that Kirk Cameron is an "on fire" Christian. I have said for several years now, "If I don't get to meet them in person here, I get to meet them in heaven one day." Kinda silly huh?

Becky said...

Amy, I agree, I'm blessed with good friends, but it's taken a long time! I will pray for some good friendships for you in TN!
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Mommy Spice, you'd probably have a good chance of hearing Lisa Whelchel speak, since she lives in TX - check out her speaking schedule on www.lisawhelchel.com!