Julia and I attended our first blogging conference last weekend! It was a crazy whim decision. I had stumbled upon several other blogs that were advertising The Influence Conference and quickly noticed the it was just about a week away. I always wanted to attend a blogging conference, it just never seemed to work out! Of course, with Julia’s business background and my husband and I being in ministry, we’ve each attended plenty of conferences over the years… just nothing like this!
Our takeaway from this conference…
…was the strong sense of community!
We went into it having very little expectation, very little knowledge about what it was going be like or who we were going to hear speak. We returned home bursting with inspiration, creativity, and a giant stack of business cards from new friends. I have always embraced certain aspects of social media, while keeping my distance from others. My main eye opening experience was seeing how well these women utilize social media for the benefits of their blogs, as well as staying connected to each other. I am excited to pursue and cultivate deeper relationships with the women we met.
Of course the first thing I instantly panicked about was my wardrobe! Seriously, I’m glad I did. Ok, so once I was there, the whole tone and feeling of the group was acceptance, community, love, support... you get the picture. Everyone was sooo nice and genuinely happy to be there to connect with other women. But at the same time, everyone looked sooooo good! I was inspired by the outfits people had put together. And why not? You’re talking about a group of creative, artsy, inspiring women that could all be considered trend setters in their own way. Which reminds me of something Jessi spoke about in her session on Saturday morning:
Christ is THE ultimate Creator. He is so GOOD. And when we are in Him and using our creativity for him, we are going to have GOOD STUFF coming out of us.
Why shouldn’t Christians be the trend setters in all areas of life? We have GOOD stuff coming out of us for God’s glory; good art, good writing, good music… good fashion! WE need to be the trend setters!! Just a thought. Ok, moving on…
Sad moment, hearing my son had made this picture to show how sad he was that I left. ((You can see in the picture that his tiny heart is broken.)) This may sound twisted and weird, but I just felt really good to know that he actually missed me as he has never shown this kind of emotion any other time I left!
These girls were awesome! Speaking from our first experience ever meeting, seeing, hearing ANYTHING about most of these girls, we were blown away. Anyone can advertise being “Christian” but this was seriously a Jesus filled conference! Learn more about each of them, and their network at www.theinfluencenetwork.com
The first night, we learned about a great organization: Sole Hope. We had no idea what to expect, but heard we were going to be attending a “shoe cutting party.” We really did cut out shoes! It was such a great way for us women to sit around and connect over a great cause. The founder was there to share her heart and the story behind the organizations start. We were given strips of old denim, scissors and pins. The pattern had already been traced onto the material, we just cut out the pieces and pined them together. All these pieces will then be shipped to Africa, where they will be given out to children and adults affected by jiggers. Learn more about it in the video below.
Again, we went into this whole experience having no idea what to expect! We were the first ones into the room to find our seats during Lara Casey’s workshop. We “just happened” to choose her workshop that hour, having no idea who she was. Wow were we blown away! Not only is she the owner, editor, and creative genius behind Lara Casey media and Southern Weddings Magazine, she is one godly and inspiring women! We were very impressed by her knowledge of the Word and her wisdom in navigating through cultural trends and lies that many women buy into.
As soon as Lara stated the words,
Nowhere in the Bible does it say “follow your dreams” Jesus only ever says “follow ME”
She had my attention and respect! This was not going to be your light and fluffy motivational speaker.
We were so grateful to Mandy at House of Rose and Tonya from Love of Family and Home, who sat down and chatted with us for a while about how to take our blog to “the next level!” We have been followers of Mandy’s for a while now. Her and her husband are very successful in the blogging world and offer a ton of great advice on their blogs about where and how they make money. Let’s be honest, it felt a little creepy to initiate a conversation with her and ask for a time to talk. I felt a little giddy and slightly starstruck when I introduced myself and admitted to being a follower. Sorry, Mandy if you were creeped out!! But thank you for all the great advice!
Mandy from House of Rose and Natalie from The Busy Budgeting Mama handed out super cute prints and candy during one of the evening sessions. I am happy to say I got in on the first launch of their new subscription service Happy Mommy Box… before it sold out!
We appreciated hearing Megan speak her heart on the topic of adoption, as Julia and I have both been praying through our own decisions to adopt… more on that later! We especially loved the community of other women at our table and those sitting around that were able to talk and share their stories.
LOVED this message given by Jessi on femininity. This was her paraphrase of the Proverbs 31 woman.
Back home and loving my purchase from the Sashes Market! I’ve already had so many people compliment it and ask where it was from. I’ve had to say “WELL! Actually I got it at a blogging conference…” How cool is that? I get to say I was at a blogging conference last weekend!!
Linking up with the other girls from Influence HERE!!
Rachel
I also decided to go quite last minute–it’s great that you had such an awesome experience at the conference! You definitely met some cool ladies–I was also in Lara Casey’s session and I thought it was excellent.
Kerrie Williams
you are so cute! And it’s so true, why shouldn’t Christians be the trendsetters? Our father is the ultimate creator! We should find freedom in our creativity because He’s the inspiration! Loved hearing about the conference from your eyes! It was a wonderful weekend for me as well :)
Sarah Lemp
Thanks for visiting, Kerrie! So glad you had a great weekend as well! I just read your bio – my husband and I too met in Mexico while serving on missions. We now work//serve in a church outside of Detroit. We partnered with To Every Tribe and David Sitton. Mexico is a big place, but maybe you know him :)
Annie
I love that y’all decided to come like two weeks ago! And I loved that you called fashion out as a place where we’re called to be creative. If we’re actively seeking to glorify the Lord in all areas of our lives, ALL of those areas will be sanctified for His use, and clothes and fashion are absolutely a part of that!
Sarah Lemp
Thanks for dropping in, Annie! You are so totally right and that is EXACTLY what I thinking. I like how you worded it as “sanctified for His use.”