Adventures in Mothering (Convention Summary and today's adventure)

Yep, it's a long entry. . . but something for everyone!

This weekend I was at the National Mothers of Preschoolers Convention at the Gaylord Texan near Dallas. It was a wonderful opportunity, and I was so blessed to get to go. When we got our bags of books, papers, and ads from the registration table, we found a small black and white pin with the letters "SDWSC" on it. All weekend, ladies were trying to guess what it stood for, but most people wore them. Me, being me, didn't wear it since I didn't know what it meant, but I did wonder. We found out at the end what it stood for, and if I had gotten nothing else out of the conventions, I am glad I heard about those letters. Here is a quick synopsis of the speakers I heard. Some of them spoke to thousands of us, some of them were in smaller workshops and spoke to just a few (few as in 50.)

The first evening, the MOPS CEO talked about the theme of MOPS this Year: Adventures in Mothering. She talked for a long while about an analogy that God is like the safety bar on an amusement park ride. When we get on a roller coaster for the first time, the safety bar clicks over our laps and we hold it tightly. As we become moms, we not only grasp the bar, but we check to see that our husband, kids and friends are holding the bar tight, too, just as we tell them to hold tight to God. As we experience more and more roller coasters, we realize that we can eventually let go of the bar and it still holds us on the ride. Not that we should let go of God, but we can let go of our fears and God will keep us safe. That's the quick version of it. She talked about the analogy for about an hour, enough that I warned Allen to just give me a pat on the shoulder or a hug should I suddenly burst into tears on a Disney ride this week. It was an awesome seminar and I may have to get the transcript just to remember all the details.

On Friday, Patrick Lencioni, who wrote The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family, talked about how to bring leadership and organization to family life so home and family are not chaotic. Christian singers, Nic Gonzalez (of Salvadore) and his wife Jaci Velasquez filled the room with inspirational music, but spent the non-musical time bantering comically about life with a baby and how they fit their musical careers into family life. I attended a workshop by Debbie Alsdorf called Heartprints. She talked about how the little things we say and do, whether good or bad, in our daily routines leave marks on our children's hearts. This is a poem she read that summarized many of the points she made:

When you thought I wasn't looking (Author: Unknown)
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you hang my first painting
on the refrigerator,
and I wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you feed a stray cat,
and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I
wasn't looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me,
and I knew that
little things are special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed that there was a God to talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I felt you kiss me goodnight,and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes,
and I learned that sometimes things hurt,
but it's alright to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw that you cared,
and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked....and I wanted to say thanks
for all the things I saw when you
thought I wasn't looking.

John and Danita Thomas, creaters of Kid Concoctions Company, shared many kid-friendly recipes for family projects. They told their story of faith while creating their company and inspired me to teach Bible stories, math, science, and other applications while "cooking" up new toys in the kitchen. Some of the projects they demonstrated were making gooey goo, stone clay, treasure rocks, sidewalk chalk, paint pens, ball blasters, and an ocean in a bottle. As we try out the recipes, I'll share our family's favorites.

I also attended a workshop that will help our MOPS group. It was about developing a prayer team for our organization. I can't say that it was what I expected or what I was hoping for, but I got a lot of useful ideas from it, and left with the emails of some ladies from other groups that I plan to keep in touch with.

The next day, we heard from another mom of preschoolers and musician, Plumb. I've never heard her music before, and it wasn't always a style I'd listen to, so I focused on the words. Wow -- what a writer! I was in tears before we had been in the first session even an hour. I tried finding the lyrics of the songs about mommy-hood that she sang, but so far I've not had luck in the department. I'll keep searching. Erwin Raphael McManus spoke about God giving us dreams and what we should do with them. The notes with "pay attention to this" doodles next to them said "put energy into making the world BETTER FOR OTHERS rather than MAKING IT SAFE FOR ME."

Another workshop I attended was called "Living Loud! Loving Life with Boys." It was given by Jean Blackmer, author of Boy-sterous Living! Celebrating Your Loud and Rowdy Life with Sons. She talked about the physical, mental, and emotional differences of boys compared to moms, but inspired us with ideas of how to enjoy the differences and survive our sons' boyhood sanely. When I was telling Will about it later, I shared her idea of eating chocolate-covered bugs, and he was excited to try that. Overall, her message was that boys are loud, and loud is not always bad. We need to take from boys the lessons to live life with passion, adventure, and endless energy.

From Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon, I was inspired to be a better mom, a better leader for other moms, a better wife, and a better ME. It was an emotionally charged weekend full of great ideas, but I was also overwhelmed by all the changes I should try to be making. The last speaker was Elisa Morgan who is the CEO of MOPS International. After all of that she shared the story from Mark:

1. Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2. "But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot." 3. While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an
alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? 5. It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly. 6. "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." 10. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The message to capture? Jesus was delighted in the actions of Mary of Bethany. She was delighted that "SDWSC!" or "She did what she could!" Nope, she didn't do ALL she could -- which is what I find myself aiming for at times, but she did what she could. That is all that is required of me, too.

As I wrapped up this long blog episode, Will came to the office to calmly explain that I had to get back to the kids. "Mama, there is a big mess waiting for you. . . Jon took Maddie's diaper off we need you now. Please don't be mad; Ben and I tried to clean it up."

Before I descended the stairs to cure my curiosity, I said a prayer: God, please let me survive this. I know it is bad just by the words Will used to coax me into the chaos, but please help me keep my cool and be patient and loving toward my children.
While I cleaned the mess, I said another: God, please help me get all of these piles picked up without puking. Please, God, let the smell leave the room and the stains come out of the carpet. I pray that you give me power to get all the brown out from under Ben's fingernails and between his fingers. Please give me the words to thank Will for trying to help, but the courage to pick up all the poopy kleenex scattered about the room.
After I got it all cleaned up, I prayed again: God, thank you for making sure Maddie peed on the tile. That was easy to clean up and I appreciate your help. Thank you for holding my tongue and giving me patience to clean the living room. Thank you for giving me the guts to not even feel sick while spraying carpet cleaner on four different stains. And most of all, thank you for the four amazing children you have blessed me with. May they be forever cute enough to easily control my temper.