Hearts At Home 2013 National Conference

Over the weekend I attended my first ever Hearts at Home Conference. It was in Bloomington Il, so not too far away.  I went into it with low expectations (I tend to do that -being the pessimistic person I tend to be) but wanted to check it out for myself to see what all the hype was about.  I was floored at how many women were in attendance.  I don't recall the exact number but I do believe the grand total for the weekend  was so very close to 5,000 Moms!!! 24 states were represented -Moms as far away as California and Puerto Rico came to experience this amazing event. I actually enjoyed every second of it.  Every second -minus the elbow to elbow -claustrophobia inducing environment of the shopping experience.

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this conference.  I am thankful to my husband who watched our children while I was away-and not only watched them but took care of Grant who decided that it would be a great time to come down with a bit of the flu bug while I was away. Jason is amazing! He never once complained or made me feel guilty for leaving. He never once asked when I would return or made me worry about the kids and how they were doing. He sent me away with kisses and well wishes. He continued to remind me to ENJOY MYSELF and HAVE FUN! I could not love my husband anymore than I do right now! He is AMAZING I TELL YA!

For those of you who do not already know, I am a member of our local MOPS group (MOPS stands for Moms of Preschoolers -although there are Moms with children of all ages not just younger ones) -anyways there were several of the MOPS Moms who also attended (although in a separate group from my own). My sister, Vicki and my friend, Amy drove up together. We were even in the same seminars as each other for the most part...which made it nice.  

So what is Hearts At Home, you ask?  Well their mission statement is as follows :

"Hearts at Home’s mission is to
encourage, educate, and equip every mom in every season of motherhood using Christian values to strengthen families."

I feel like we had an amazing panel of speakers to listen to this year. I have cut and pasted info for your reading leisure.  

 (These bios were taken right from the Hearts at Home website-just so you know I did  steal them and do not claim to have written these myself)

Actress, producer, New York Times’ bestselling author,and international speaker Candace Cameron Bure is both outspoken and passionate about her family and faith. With a successful television and movie career that started at the age of five as "D.J." on Full House and continues to flourish today, Candace knows that the greatest success in her life has been that of her marriage to Valeri Bure and their three children, Natasha, Lev and Maks. Her desire is to minister to the hearts of women so they might pursue wholesome values that nurture and reinforce the family unit; that modern women would be bold enough to stand against the negative message our culture tends to reflect, and embrace the women we were created to be.

She speaks to audiences of thousands. She’s the author of more than seven books. She’s the founder and director of Hearts at Home. Her biggest accomplishment? Being a mom to five beautiful children and Nana to three precious grandbabies.

Jill Savage encourages tens of thousands each year at Hearts at Home Conferences and personal speaking engagements. Why is she so successful? Because she’s just one of us — a wife and mother trying to make it through each day with the challenges motherhood can present to us. She tells it like it is and doesn’t pretend to be an expert — just someone who’s been on the journey and lived to tell about it.

A native of North Carolina, Meredith Andrews began singing in church when she was only six, and by the time she was in high school, she was writing songs and leading worship. Her incredible vocal gift and intuitive songwriting abilities caught the attention of Word Record executives who soon signed her to a record deal. Her label debut, The Invitation, released in April 2009 and the stirring single “You’re Not Alone” helped propel Andrews into the national spotlight.   Her sophomore album, As Long As it Takes, debuted in March 2010 and the following spring, it was named Worship Album of the Year at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards. “How Great is the Love” earned the Dove Award for Worship Song of the Year.



Several of the seminars were given by professors, professional speakers, and ministry leaders.  Most all of them have been featured on WCIC on the Focus on the Family segments.  The theme of this year's conference was NO MORE PERFECT MOMS.Which was perfect because I do believe every Mom strives to be perfect and to DO IT ALL! It's nice to know that it's ok to let that idea go and just be the best you can be. No comparisons, no high expectations, just be MOM...it's enough.


So what did I learn?

"There's lots of ways to get to 4"- What does that mean? Well, I took a seminar on being a Control Freak.....which I can totally admit to.  Anyways, it taught us ways to just "let it go" and not try to control every move our children and spouses make.  The speaker said...2+2= 4, 3+1= 4, 10-6= 4...meaning..there are lots of different ways to getting to the same thing so let others do it their way and you do it your way and not try to make people "get to 4" the same way you arrived at 4.  JUST LET IT GO!


"Pause and Praise instead of Interrupt and Instigate"-I feel I do a good job praising Grant, Lane and Jason but I also have a way of interrupting and instigating. I just need to remember to pause and praise or say/do nothing at all.  Pretty much THUMPER'S words came to mind, "Mama says, if ya aint got nuttin nice to say, don't say nuttin at all."

"What spills out is what is on the inside"- The speaker gave the example of a cup of coffee spilling in the car after taking a corner too quickly.  She stated that what spilled out was coffee because that was what was on the inside. She encouraged us to work on our "insides" (our soul and spirit that is) to make it the best they can be so what "spills out" is nothing but goodness.  

"Please God not people" -pretty self explanatory 

"Imperfect can make really perfect memories"-the speaker talked about how horribly imperfect one Christmas had been for her family (the tree fell over and a family member had passed away) but she stated that that was the year they remember the most and holds some many wonderful and (now) funny memories.  She said that even when things are a mess you can make your mess your message and have stories to tell years from now. She urged us not to STRESS about imperfection.

"Separate the child from the behavior"-this one is pretty self explanatory as well. But she encouraged us to treat our child the same but the behavior different. Instead of yelling at your child and making the child feel bad about themselves -to take the spotlight off the child and onto the behavior.  Brilliant! Sometimes easier said than done but I am going to really watch myself on this one.

"APOLOGIZE to your children and do it the right way"-this speaker was a psychologist and told us that too many parents have too much pride to admit to their children that they were wrong and do not know the importance of apologizing.  She stressed that is

crucial to the relationship and to the bond/trust with the child to aplogize and do it with love and sincerity.  She said no apology is complete without the words, "will you please forgive me?" at the end. 

 

"Failure isn't fatal"-As Moms we will fail, we will not always know or do what is right but to know that there is always tomorrow to correct it and move on. 



 
"Always tell a child something else when calling them cute, handsome, or pretty so they don't have a false sense of identity." 

"Punishment may not change the behavior it just tells them they were wrong but doesn't tell them how to be right-it's our jobs to teach and explain."
 
"Raise the children you were given not the children you wish you had."

They played the above video at the conference and I just can't get enough of it.  Hilarious and  I can so relate! A MUST WATCH!