Whole Hearted Mothers

After tonight, you probably won't hear from me again until Sunday or Monday. That's because I will be leaving early in the morning for our annual Whole Hearted Mother's Conference. Every February (with the exception of last year), Clay and Sally Clarkson host a wonderful weekend, aimed at stay-at-home and homeschooling moms, although any mother is welcome. It is not a homeschooling conference as we think of it - there are no discussions of how to teach fractions, the best writing curriculum, or which foreign language to study. This would be more aptly called a mother's retreat than a conference. We stay in a nice hotel, eat some good food, listen to inspirational speakers, and just enjoy a getaway weekend.

It is such a refreshing time to step away from the fray for a few days and to get recharged and refocused. The whole theme of the weekend is basically to remind us as mothers of what we are called to do. It is so easy to get caught up in the seemingly endless daily round of dirty diapers, meals to be prepared, laundry to do, lessons to teach. For this one weekend a year, we get to get away from these daily tasks while at the same time be reminded and encouraged about why these and the other responsibilities of motherhood are so important and are actually blessings. For a great description of the weekend see my friend and mentor Cathi's blog on it.

What also makes this weekend special is the fact that there are about a dozen or so women from our homeschool group are caravaning up there together. It is such a great time to get to know everyone better, and really cement the sense of community between us.

And of course, we couldn't do it without all the dads, most of whom are taking a day off work in order to be home with the children all weekend. We have a running joke in our group about this weekend, calling them the "half-hearted fathers" but nothing could really be further from the truth. Especially my husband who will be in estrogen overload here at the housefullofgirls. Thank you all, and especially you, Kelly, for making this weekend possible for us.