The Power of Deliberate Mothers

As many of  you know, I was away over the weekend at a Power of Moms Retreat, up in Park City, at Richard and Linda Eyres home. They are the authors of many New York Times Best Seller books and they run a site called http://www.valuesparenting.com/ that everyone should check out. It was an amazing weekend filled with old and new friends. This retreat was a different experince for me. The same curriculum was taught that I had heard last June, but this time I really felt validated in the efforts I have made as mom over the last year. I was surrounded by other women who believed in the same parenting philosophies as I do and were doing the best they could to raise amazing kids and create amazing families that can influence the world. It made you feel stronger, more capable, and more "powerful" as a mom.

Women are very powerful and being a mom is a great priviledge and challenge given from the Lord.

 Here are quite a few of the board members behind the Power of Moms website. Many came from all across the country to be there. We had a wonderful board meeting where we all got to meet each other, talk about our visions and ideas, and enjoy cooking and eating a wonderful meal together. They are all such great women and it was uplifting to be with them.

 It was a fun experience to be in the kitchen cooking with all these women and chatting. I could use that more often for sure. There is strength in numbers.

Some of the things I took away from the weekend were:

As mothers, we need to figure out what we need to "THRIVE" not just "SURVIVE," in the everyday challenges of motherhood.

We have got to restore margins to our lives, so that we have the ability to create space for serendipitous moments and leave room for the spirit to speak to us. We too often stretch ourselves and overcrowd our lives, that we don't have moments where we can feel the spirit and really know how we can best utilize our abilities.  We need to evaluate our responsibilities and delete the things that are not helping us achieve our greater purpose, as an individual, and as a family.

We need to create a Family Culture that is stronger than our kids, peer culture, media culture, celebrity culture, ...

I also highly recommend the Mind Organization for Moms, that is featured on the site. I know it works, I've tried it and things run so much more smoothly in my life when I'm doing it. Check it out here. You actually can free your mind, and be present for your kids throughout the day, instead of constantly swimming in what you have to do, or trying not to forget everything, which is what I've been doing lately. So, so, good to go over the system again. If you would like to know more about it, please let me know, and I would be happy to share.

So there you go. That's my weekend review! It was great and exhausting (did I mention I didn't get to sleep on Friday night until midnight and then couldn't fall asleep until 3 AM because of reflux and was up and at it at 6 AM for a another full retreat day). I was kind of a zombie by two in the afternoon, but I was more on the team helping to run the retreat and wasn't too upset that I wasn't catching every word the speakers said.

All I can say is great weekend, great women, and a great feeling knowing that I'm on the right path doing the right things. I'm just greatful for the opportunity given me.