Family and Writing and How it All Intertwines...My Lessons from Allume

The centerpieces have been dismantled, tablecloths pulled away, booths taken down and attendees suitcases are being repacked with gifts and new books and knick knacks, making them hard to zipper and rearrange.  It's kind of like the morning after Christmas, or Thanksgiving...hours of preparation go into the details of the event ahead of time and then before you know it the whole thing is...over.

Four hundred women are on their way home this morning. Back to their husbands and children, to their homes and the tasks that lay before them. It was a wonderful weekend, it's nice to get away and be refilled spiritually and as a writer.  It's even nicer to come...home.

In one session I attended yesterday given by a sweet soul named Kat (and titled "Blogging as a Ministry, How to Change the World During Naptime) I was reminded to "Always be a better mother than you are a writer."

Always be a better mother than you are a writer.

That's what I love about these conferences, where women talk about writing and blogging and the impact it can have on the world (and if you heard some of the stories of the ways these women have used social media to impact the world you would be awed), but they are also moms and wives and church members and, most importantly daughters of God. And, at the end of the day the framework we function from as Christian women helps to form our lives and reminds us about the things that really matter...first things first.

So here I am about to head home and I'm full of inspiration and anticipation.

I'm inspired to continue to write and blog and share my honest heart with all of you and hope that in the process you'll share yours with me.

I'm anticipating the excited shrieks of "Mommy" as my girls run to me when I walk in the door this afternoon. I will hug them. I have gifts for them. I will hug my husband.

We hope to carve pumpkins tonight and bake cookies. I am already thinking about parent teacher conferences this week and meal planning.

I am hoping to begin to carve out more morning time for writing and planning my day...hoping. But also, in some strange way, at greater peace with the idea that in this season of life that is not always possible and that that's o.k too.

An art teacher at a school I once worked at told me something I will never forget. She was a mom to two older children when we spoke, but remembered back to her days at home with her little ones. Days that were filled with joy, but also a restlessness on her part at times...a creative restlessness.

She looked at my intently and said, "My children were the best work I ever created."

I want to be able to look at a young momma 20 years from now and speak those words to her heart as well.



THANK YOU to the team of women (and men!) responsible for all of the planning and details and offering a sweet space for all of us women to come and be inspired. And to Jessica Heights and Sarah Mae who, somehow, in the busyness of their own lives, managed to create space for our lives.

I'll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the weekend:

Impact for God does not occur when we are pursuing impact, but when we are pursuing God.  

~Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales and Jellyfish Productions

Great, impactful writing flows from a greatly impacted heart. 

God calls us to muddied living...A clean heart, but dirty hands. 

~Mary DeMuth, Author and Speaker

We need to rest in the middle of the undone. We tend to use rest as a reward, but rest is a choice. 

The Nester

When you want to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to the you when you started.

Darren Rowse, Author and creator of Pro Blogger (who is from Australia and has a super cool accent!)

[When writing] You have to bury your fear in faith, otherwise you bury your talents in fear.

A call from God is about relationship and proximity. He desires closeness. God din't give Abraham a map, he gave him a relationship. 

Ann Voskamp, blogger and author of One Thousand Gifts