Weekend Away: Momcon 2015

I just got back from the annual MOPS International leadership conference. This year it was in Indianapolis and I was able to travel with several other women from my MOPS group.  I had an amazing time.  Matt Maher performed and the main-stage speakers included Amena Brown, Jen Hatmaker, and Bob Goff, among others.  If you ever have the chance to go and hear Amena Brown perform her spoken word poetry, you should absolutely do it.  She was phenomenal.  The weekend was full of good conversations with new friends and great advice on parenting and how to be a more intentional wife. I have pages and pages of notes to go through and digest over the next few weeks and a stack of books to read.

If you're looking for books on parenting, I highly recommend Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys by David S. Thomas and Stephen James, as well as All You Need to Know About Raising Girls by Melissa Travathan and Sissy Goff.  I had the opportunity to hear both David Thomas and Sissy Goff speak this weekend.  David was absolutely hilarious and they were both insightful and engaging speakers.  In those two short sessions, I learned things about my son and daughters that have already changed some of the way I parent now and will be especially helpful as they get older.  I couldn't get in line to buy their books fast enough, and I plan to spend time on their website, raisingboysandgirls.com, taking advantage of the tons of resources and information about parenting.

When asked what my favorite part of the weekend was, I found it hard to say. The whole weekend was my favorite, really.  I missed Anton and the kids like crazy, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to go and be filled up and connect with other women.  It made me so thankful for A. and his willingness to cover things at home so I could go, and thankful that my sister could help with my kids and watch Molly and Hazel for me.

As I thought about what I wanted to say to you guys about the conference, I kept going back to Bob Goff.  Last year, my husband read the book, Love Does, at the suggestion of his aunt and then recommended it to me.  Even though everything he told me about it sounded wonderful, I didn't get around to reading it.  I will now.

Bob Goff was a great speaker.  He took us off guard with his almost childlike enthusiasm and excitement.  We weren't allowed to stay one more minute in our comfort zone.  His message was so simple, and scary hard at the same time.  Jesus didn't call us to play it safe.  We're defined by the way that we love people.  Love everybody--always.  Live in grace, walk in love.

Bob Goff speaking on Friday at Momcon.

He talked about how as Christians, we are under the banner of Christ.  That either changes nothing in our lives or it changes absolutely everything.  I thought of my parents, and the extravagant way that they love. Especially the way they love those who have been unloved or unwanted before.  I was inspired to be more like Bob, and more like my parents, but to do it in whatever way looks like me.  He said, "Go be you.  And go love everybody."

I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like in my life, and I'm going to start by picking up a copy of his book.  Love Does.