Influence Never Ends

I'm at a loss for words.... really!  Surprising I know, but I am still processing all the information and wisdom I soaked up while I was away at the Influence Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana this past weekend.  To be honest it's all kind of a blur, I haven't had the opportunity since being home to sit and seriously reflect on the wonderful weekend.  I hope that over the next few days I will be able to set aside some time and do just that... sit, reflect and pray about what God had revealed to me during my time away.  I am so excited to see how God plans to continue to use me and my influence.

Even though I haven't had much time to reflect deeply on the content of the conference I realize my time at the conference was awesome.  I got the opportunity to meet with some of my favourite bloggers in person and I now don't feel weird when I call them my friends!  I couldn't believe how willing some of these ladies were to meet with me in person, put time aside to hear my story and connect with me.  There were over 200 people there so this is a big deal, well at least I think so.  I was so blessed to get to spend some time with Casey Weigand and Jessi Connolly and let me tell you these ladies are even more wonderful in person than they are on their blogs.  Their blogs are a true reflection into who they really truly are.  They love God, they love their families, they have a heart for people and their hearts are so absolutely beautiful in their own unique ways.

Right: Casey Weigand, Baby Apple and Me
Left: Jessi from Naptime Diaries and Me

When I bought my ticket and made a choice to follow God's call to attend this conference I was scared and anxious.  For me these feeling were a bit foreign, I am not sure exactly why I felt these things but I knew part of it was because I knew no one.  I had never met any of the ladies that were going to be at the conference.  I was able to connect with Jac from BabEblessing before going to the conference because to my surprise she lived in the same city as I do.  Although it was wonderful to meet Jac I still felt uneasy about going to this conference not really knowing where I'd fit in. Those feeling were gone the moment I stepped off the plane and met Sarah and Heather.  We travelled to the hotel where the conference was held and I felt so welcomed...like we had known all the other attendees for years.

I was so blessed to have some wonderful roommates Sarah, Mary, and Amber.  They are awesome and I hope we keep in touch for years to come.  We had some great times together and some even better chats that kept us up until late in the night.

One thing I did learn and I would do differently next year is...take the day after the conference off work!  This conference took so much out of me in a good way I could have used a few days to refuel and reflect.

I feel so blessed by this experience and I can't wait to do it all again next year!  Will you be joining me at Influence 2013?

I'm sure I will have more to share about what I learnt at Influence over the coming weeks and I am excited to see how that impacts my life in the months and year ahead. I'd love for you to follow along!