As women, we love to look good. We spend lots and lots of time picking out the perfect outfit, jewelry, and shoes to match. The longing to be noticed is there even if we don't admit it. Women have a longing deep inside to be beautiful and to be noticed. But too often than not, we find ourselves comparing to another woman. Sometimes it's our friends or even a family member. We think and sometimes say out loud "I wish I was as skinny as my sister" or "Oh, I love her outfit, I wish I could have clothes like that."  or "Her body shape is so much better than mine" or "If only I could sing or dance like her or run as fast as her" or  "Oh, to have a life like her then things would be all better."

The last session at Hearts for Home was given by Angela Thomas. She did an amazing job wrapping up the conference by sharing a lot of solid truths. One of my favorites was to Run the Race set before you. These are truths I was already familiar with but it was awesome to hear them again.

The third workshop that I attended at Hearts at Home was called Passion Pursuit. It was hosted by Dr. Juli Slattery and Linda Dillow. The first thing the ladies encouraged us to do was text our husbands and tell them "Thanks for watching the kids. I am at a workshop about sex" just to see what they said. Ha! I loved that these ladies were not afraid to talk about sex. Unfortunately, sex isn't talked about much in church settings as much as it needs to be. Sex is important for a marriage. Why is sex so important? Why do we need to pursue the passion in our marriages? Here are some answers to those questions that Dr. Juli Slattery and Linda Dillow shared.

The third workshop I attended at the Hearts at Home conference was called How to cut your grocery bill in half. It was hosted by Crystal Paine. She is the founder of Money Saving Mom. We began the workshop by figuring out how much we spend per person, per week on groceries. It was very eye-opening for us all. Crystal then shared several tips on how to cut your grocery bill in half. It was very helpful. Here are the tips with my notes under each.

The second workshop I attended at the Hearts at Home conference was called "To Every Season, there is a thing." It was hosted by Rhonda Rhea. She began by sharing that each season of life has it's own unique crazy. Rhoda shared she wouldn't trade one second of any of the seasons of life.

The first workshop I attended at the Hearts for Home conference was called No More Perfect Kids hosted by Jill Savage. It was powerful and I learned so much. Jill first addressed that it is so important for us to connect with our children. Each day our kids ask us 7 questions.

On Saturday morning, the keynote speaker was Dr. Kathy Koch. She was amazing! I felt very convicted and challenged by her session. Kathy spoke to us about who we are as a person and also about how we relate to our kids in who they are. Kathy had us repeat after her a statement. "I am who I am supposed to be." Let's say that again "I am who I am supposed to be." Wow! I know I am a child created in God's image.

On March 14, a friend and I headed to Normal, IL for a Hearts at Home conference. I learned about it through a book I read called Celebrate Home. Little did I know how life changing this conference would be. I walked away challenged, encouraged, and refreshed.