I got away last month to catch a vision for the future… to recharge my homeschool mom battery… to “RENEW” and “RESTORE” my passion for homeschooling. If you haven’t ever had a chance to do this, I can’t tell you how phenomenal it is. Life changing.
The Homeschool Moms’ Winter Summit was in San Marcos, Texas at the Embassy Suites. If you have ever stayed at an Embassy Suites, you’ll already know that they have one of the best hotel breakfasts there is. You can’t beat made-to-order real-egg omelets and crisp bacon. They are doing next year’s Texas Summit at the same spot, so if you are interested in going (with me – oh, yeah; I’ll be back), you better hop on your ticket while it is cheap and you have a tax refund coming!
There were more wonderful things than food at the conference, though. The best part was the homeschool moms… which is kind of a no-brainer – at a homeschool mom conference, right? One of the people running the behind the scenes stuff at the conference was Connie of Smockity Frocks. The decorations were by Lisa Pennington (she’s so DIY crafty and is the queen of burlap – I took home a fantastic pillow from her Etsy shop since there were door prizes for everyone who came).
This other sweet lady is my roomie, Candace (@sacredmommyhood). I just fell in love with her. It was kind of scary not knowing her when I left for the event, and since she wasn’t a cereal killer, we hit it off really quick. Just look at her – she doesn’t look like she could have TEN kids, right?
You know you are at a homeschool conference when you think your FOUR kids are just a meager few.
The conference was sponsored by Staples and Mardel – who gave us nice journals, pens and notepads to take notes with. Believe me, I was taking notes. The cumulative amount of veteran homeschooling experience in the hotel was astounding. I learned something almost every minute of the weekend. I felt like my brain was going to implode. I’m just now getting to the point where I can sit down and go over it all again after the overload has worn off.
They had a prayer room set up for you to go in and pray alone or together, complete with cozy lamps, decorations, candles, and bible and devotional books.
It was a nice retreat. I bet some of the nursing moms used it as well; I know I would have, if I were one of the ones with an infant in tow.
Even in the hallway, you could see Titus 2 in action – women teaching and encouraging women. Iron sharpening iron. Burdens shared. Two or more, joined together in prayer. Good stuff.
They had resources for sale on the tables, including a few new books that are now on my wish list. I’ll have to review them after I read them. I don’t have them yet. Maybe after that tax refund, I can purchase them along with my 2014 ticket! It was a steal for under 100$! TWO NIGHTS, TWO HOT BREAKFASTS, and a girlie lunch – not to mention a break, encouragement and hearing from the Lord without distraction?! Priceless, I tell you.
Sandwiched in between a bunch of really awesome speakers (like Charlotte Siems, pictured with me above – I just adore her)… they had YUMMY chicken with salad and a fantastic berry and cream dessert. I could have eaten three of them. So healthy and delicious!
In the main ballroom, they set up the agenda with:
- Praise and worship music
- Inspirational speakers
- HILARIOUS Skits
- Short movies
- Q & A panels (and you got to ask the questions anonymously from notecards on your table, rather than standing up with a microphone, which was great – and I think more people asked really nitty gritty questions and got a lot more help this way)
- Pajama party
Every table sent up a representative to look the worst. My favorite was the cute mom who had a nursing baby. They wet her shirt to make her look like she had breastmilk on it (it reminded me of all those years I spent nursing my 4 kids)… what a trooper! She totally should have won!
I was so encouraged by how many young moms there were and even older moms who had started homeschooling for the first time just recently! We had a sweet lady at our table who had brought a tween home who was having some emotional times and I wanted to take her home and hug on her and share some chocolate with her and tell her it was going to be OK.
Trust me, there were tissue boxes on every table… and we all needed them.
But it wasn’t all tears. There were plenty of GUT-SPLITTING laughs, too. My favorite part of the event was the awesome skits put on by this talented lady! She had me crying, I was laughing so hard. Tears of joy and tears of shared sorrows, tears from the Holy Spirit moving you to change and grow in the Lord… it was a weekend full of amazing emotion.
Even this old dog learned a lot. I’m about to graduate two kids in two years, so I’m not new to homeschooling… but I can tell you that I’ve never needed encouragement as much as I have in the upper years of homeschooling. Preschool and elementary were a breeze for me. God used the junior high and high school years to feed me a slice of humble pie and remind me that HE is the one in the driver’s seat… and that even with my most meager effort, HE can accomplish a good work in my children if I stay the course and trust in Him.
It was good to feel understood… and to be challenged as much as I was encouraged by the wisdom of the older moms who have homeschooled a lot longer and graduated multiple children.
Just before the fun was over, I got to sit with Tiffany (pictured on the right) and her friend. We got over our stage fright and pajama insecurities together and she told me she had read my blog for quite a few years. She has no idea how much she encouraged me when she told me that it was because of my blog that she decided to try homeschooling her kids. I think she said they had been homeschooling now for about three years and were still going strong. She found out about the Homeschool Moms’ Winter Summit from my blog and was able to hang out with me briefly on Saturday night. We were the three last moms at the pajama party – closing down the house. I’m so glad we had a few moments together and thank you, Tiffany, if you are reading this… you encouraged my heart.
If I’ve helped just one mom out there to stay home and bond with their kids through home education with this site over the past 8+ years of writing here, it has all been worth it!
Whoever you are and whatever stage of life you are in, I hope you get the encouragement you need right now. I pray you will seek it out and I pray that you receive it tenfold. May the Lord guide and bless you – draw you to Him with cords of loving-kindness. His yoke is easy and His burden ever so light.
{ See you next year at the Summit? }
In His Grip,
Loved this post and having you Summit with us. My only regret is that I didn’t get to hang with you more. Hopefully next year! If it would bless you, I want to give you a copy of my book in the hopes that it will bless you as I know that you always bless others. You don’t have to wait for your income tax return. Just email me personally and give me your address. Roxanne Parks