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As I stated before, I spent my weekend at a Mom's conference in B'ham, Alabama. Wonderful, refreshing time. Great laughs and memory making were had by all. But I wanted to share a couple of things that I took home with me. That really convicted me. The Holy Spirit did all but shake the ground for me as an eye-opener. So here goes:

#1. Missions. No one knew from one speaker to the next what the topic of conversation would be. It was a total God thing. But they mostly seemed to focus on missions and outreach to orphans around the globe. If you know me AT ALL, you know I am a firm believer in missions. I love serving and I love helping to provide for the needy and poor. I mean, I'm seriously like one of those stray-animal-road-picker-uppers.

My husband loves gadgets. LOVES them. He was drooling over the new iPhone 5. Like, counting down the minutes before they hit the stores. He wanted one so bad. Yet, here I am with an iPhone that looks like it has been stomped, beaten, run over by a Mack truck and yet it still kicks. As in, it hasn't kicked the bucket. But it's due to do so any moment. I knew Chad had his heart set on getting himself an iPhone 5.  Which, Chad doesn't ever buy himself much of anything.  EVER.  So I was okay with him spending money for the phone.  Then he kept telling me he was going to get one for me also since my phone was in such bad shape.  We went back and forth, back and forth.  Finally he said, "Well, maybe I'll just surprise you with it".  I told him plain and simple, "I DON'T WANT A NEW PHONE!"  Long story short, he bought 2 new iPhone 5's.  One for him, and one for..... you guessed it.  I tried so very hard not to be frustrated with him.  I know he means well, but bless his heart, he didn't DO well this time.  So, when I pulled out the information on the little girl from Colombia, South America that I had sponsored, he looked at me like I had just grown 2 heads.  "Really, Mandy? I can't let you go on any of these trips.  You always come back as a sponsor of something or somebody"........ "Really, Chad?  For what that new phone costs you can sponsor a poor, needy, salvation starved child for almost HALF A YEAR".

Chad was back at AT&T the next day returning my phone.

So back to sponsoring this child, my kids have seemed to be really fascinated with it.  Brennan, of course, understands it a lot better.  But we have her card hanging on our fridge and we pray for her at night.

We also have 2 small boxes that have "Nickels for Nets" printed on them and a coin slot at the top.  It's through an organization called "Sweet Sleep" based in Nashville. You can read about them here.) They provide new beds and mosquito nets to children in places like Africa, Uganda, and Haiti.  It only costs $8 to provide a new bed and net for a child.  So the boxes are sitting on our kitchen table.  Almost everyday Brennan has asked questions about it. It has sparked some conversations on missions and how children live around the world.  At breakfast he will just sit and stare at the pictures on the back of the box.  I'm hoping something is getting fired up inside his heart. 

#2. Narcissism.  We talked about what a narcissistic generation we are bringing up.  How everything from the way we are raising our kids and making them the center of our entire universe to social media has geared us up for a very selfish, putting self before others, it's all about me mentality.  It also tied into the fact that we are also one generation away from an extinct church.  Our preacher says that nearly every Sunday.  Chew on that for a minute.  ONE generation away from an extinct church. Sermons these day are based on what makes US feel good...... watered-down faith..... Look at Joel Osteen's messages.  Never has one "preacher" made my blood boil so.  God didn't design us for our happiness.  He doesn't want us to be HAPPY at all times.  That's not what we were put on earth for. Just like my children.  I want them to be happy, but I also want them to fail.  I want them to experience what it's like to fail.  What it can be like to hit rock bottom.  But to be able to find the JOY in the failure and the harsh journey.  Okay, before I get on one of my rant's, I will step off the soapbox and move on......

There were some great points made on getting our children to put others before themselves.  This is something I have always tried to do.  Are my kids spoiled?  YES.  Do they have way too much? YES.  Are they perfect little angels?  NO.  But I try to make it a point to make them see the needs of people around them before they focus on what they have or don't have.  It's a hard job, being a parent, and trying to do it the way that you KNOW is Christ-centered.  Sometimes it seems to be a nearly impossible task.  Some days (okay, most days) I cry out to God asking Him if He's sure He didn't make some mistake by entrusting ME with these priceless gifts.  After all, I only get one chance to do it right. How Chad and I equip them at home, for the short time we have them will determine how they will go out into the world and succeed and fail and raise up another generation.  One of the speakers made a very valid point.  The order in which we should put our lives:  God FIRST.  Spouse SECOND.  And children THIRD.  I've said this same thing before in previous posts.  But it really helps to hear other mothers validate that for me and reassure me that I'm not a crazy, psycho mom.  That I'm not evil by not putting my children first in everything.

There were some other great points made, and perhaps I'll blog about them later.  But for now, some of you may want to think about these things.  And if you are involved in a church, I highly recommend going to this conference.  It is such a great time of refreshment, reinforcement, and bonding with other moms.  Last year was the first year and both 2011 and this year were held in B'ham, AL.  Next year they will have two.  One is in Texas in February and the other is in Chattanooga in September.  We are toying with going to Chattanooga, but it's such a long ride on a church van.  Here is the Lifeway link that shares the events: dotMom