Nuggets

Ok. So I've had a few days to let it all sink in. To let it all percolate. When you go to HAH, there is just SO MUCH information to digest, that it takes a few days, and a little bit of time to let it all settle in.
So I've decided to go through my notes, and post a few of the nuggets of information that I took home with me this weekend. A few of the things I will hold onto (or try to hold onto) from the weekend.
From the She's Gonna Blow session by Julie Barnhill:
I am NOT alone. I am not the only momma who has anger issues. Actually, my session included about 400 other moms who have issues, and that was just in our session. There were 3 more sessions scheduled on this topic. That tells you how many mommys suffer from anger issues.
Until I can accept grace from the Lord, this problem cannot be solved of fixed. Only when I can accept his grace of forgiveness, can I begin to work with this problem.
From Guilt: The gift that keeps on Giving by Julie Barnhill:
There's a difference in True Guilt and False Guilt.
TG is specific- you know what you've done is wrong and you know what to do about it.
FG is vague, a cloudy feeling.
One of the ways to turn TG into recovery is to turn shoulda, woulda, and coulda's into can, can't and will. I will do this. Do not make excuses.
From Home Sweet Home by Suzie Eller
This session was all about how to make your home hospitable to your teens. How to make it a welcoming place for them, so that your teens want their friends to come and hang out. (I know, a little ahead of my time, but I can begin the prep work now!)
Teens want few things from the house they're going to hang out in: Hospitable, Safe, happy, and a home that isn't perfect! They want to be able to be themselves when they come over. Not have to put on masks. I can start this preparation today, when they're young, so that when they're teens, it's already a safe, comfy place for them to be.
From Balance that works when life doesn't by Susie Larson
Live for the important things in life, and prioritze the trivial. Jesus wants us to be focued, pointed on a direct path. When we're focused is when we are able to be focused on Him.
Hidden in my Heart by Tena DeGraaf is about learning and keeping the Lord's word in your heart, so that it's accessible in whatever circumstances you find yourself. From this I took away: Our children have been perfectly placed with us. WE are the perfect parents for these children, no matter what we think sometimes. God knows we're their best parents.
Helping your kids be pure in an impure world by Jill Savage was geared toward the older children, but I was still interested. I'm going to be dealing with modesty too soon. It's never too soon to learn what to do. I learned that we need to be slipping in messages of purity all the time, because those pushing IMpurity are already doing it. There is impurity EVERYWHERE. Commercials, tv shows, clothes, magazines, other kids, you name it, it's trying to push an impure message. We need to be aware and in charge of what our kids are viewing. Speaking to them on a regular basis will get it ingrained in their heads.
Home fires: Keep sparks of passion in your marriage by Leslie Wilson.
Well, let's see. How best to summarize what I took away from this session.
Men are like microwaves, women are like crock pots. :) Dad's needs and mom's needs are completely different.
And Lastly, I'd be a great mom, if it weren't for these kids! by Marybeth Whalen.
What I took away from this session is that we look at our kids, and often we think, "I have to fix them." Well, here's a novel Idea. He sent them us to fix US. He did not send us broken children. If we find fault in the children he's gifted us with, it's not in them, it's in us.

Those are the sessions I took this weekend. Yes, the afterglow will burn off, and we'll be back to every day raising children. My prayer is that these nuggets will have stuck with me, and that I'll be a changed mommy from here on out.
With the Lord's help alone can this be done!