First off…let’s just acknowledge who is standing on the “AWESOME” side and who is standing on the “AVERAGE” side.
Just sayin’.
Ahem.
Kidding. My hubby will always be more awesome than me.
We got the opportunity to attend the START Conference in Nashville, TN this past weekend.
I’ve been a huge Jon Acuff supporter since I heard him speak at Blissdom back in 2011. A few things I love about his style:
- He is a Christian
- He is extremely witty
- He inspires people to go after their dreams
- He loves his family
- He constantly talks about his wife Jenny
It’s rare that a man will get on stage and admit that his wife is awesome, you know?
I love that Jon is not afraid to talk about his relationship and how it affects his work and what he does. It makes him so relatable.
So, of course, when I found out that I was going to be able to attend his conference…I wanted to meet the amazing lady he calls Jenny.
Not in a stalker-ish kind of way, but because I know that behind every successful husband…there tends to be an awesome wife.
And he is right…she is the best. More on that in a minute.
The conference was centered on helping you START your dream and live a life that is awesome. Because, really, who wants to live an average life?
Not me.
Jon’s 10 year old daughter L.E. started her own business recently making bracelets. She had them for sale at the conference {and sold out – by the way}.
I just love that a 10 year old little girl is STARTING her dream. She’s doing it!
If that doesn’t inspire people to get off their butts and go after whatever it is that they want…I don’t know what will.
Just read what L.E. wrote on her website bio….
My favorite line: “I started making them after my dad wrote a book called “Start” about chasing your dream.”
Just another example of how influential we are to our children. It reminded me that I need to let me kids explore their dreams more than I do.
It also made me really happy that I decided to say “yes” to one of my life long dreams of encouraging and inspiring other mothers. Something I have been trying to figure out HOW to do for quite awhile.
When The Busy Budgeting Mama approached me about teaming up for HAPPY MOMMY BOX, my initial thought was:
“If I had more time in the day.”
But, after praying about it…I started realizing that my dream is not to just write blog posts and share silly stories about my kids acting crazy.
I want to impact others.
Inspire others.
Encourage others.
And I feel like this is a great way to do it. You can follow HAPPY MOMMY BOX HERE to learn more about what we are doing. Or sign up for our newsletter to be one of the first to know about our launch!
Just recently Alli Worthington, founder of Blissdom, came out and announced that Blissdom will no longer be {the conference}. She gave a presentation at START about “editing”.
Not editing blog posts. Editing life.
Cutting out the things that drain you and focusing your energy on the things that bring you joy.
Just another confirmation that HAPPY MOMMY BOX is something I need in my life. Something that will bring me joy.
Did I mention Alli is a mom to five boys? Just another reason I adore her. She even brought her oldest son with her to the conference.
I couldn’t help but thing that would be me one day. Traveling to conferences with my sons.
While I was in Nashville I had the chance to meet a fellow online friend {and mother}, Diane, who lives there. She didn’t attend the conference, but was able to meet up for lunch.
We have been following each other for quite awhile so it was fun to finally meet in person. I wish I could have spent more time with her. She was just as sweet in person!
The highlight of the entire weekend came on Saturday evening when we got to have dinner with Jon, Jenny and about 30 others.
We ate at Mangia in Nashville…a place that combines food, music, and dancing.
Oh yes, dancing. Even for the men.
I had the chance to sit next to Jenny at dinner…and I just adore her.
Her and Jon remind me a lot of Jeff and I.
Our last stop before we headed out was downtown Franklin, TN. Holy gorgeous-ness.
I want to move there.
There’s this place called The Frothy Monkey that we were told we “must” visit.
Ignore the licking the face shot. That is an inside joke.
Not “inside joke” like…your not cool because your not an insider, but just a reference from a talk that one of the songwriters gave.
Too complicated to explain, but J thought he was pretty funny.
The greatest takeaway for me was the slide above “EMBRACE THE FUZZY FUTURE”.
Sometimes that’s really hard to do because we all want clarity. We want to know the outcome before we START.
God doesn’t promise clarity, does He?
He promises wisdom and guidance and counsel. But He doesn’t promise specific instructions for my every decision.
But He always desires and honors faith.
So it’s hard. It’s hard to step out in faith when you don’t have clarity for the future.
But, especially in my new journey with HAPPY MOMMY BOX, I am praying for the faith to step forward in spite of a lack of clarity. For the faith to act in the clarity that I have.
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
If you are interested in attending START CONFERENCE 2014 {which I would highly recommend}…CLICK HERE.
Have you been holding back from going after a dream?
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What an exciting trip! I love John Acuff, so fun that you got to attend!
Thanks Andrea! It truly was such a wonderful experience!
Sounds like a great weekend!
Life changing!! 🙂
Oh I just adore Jon, he’s so wonderful. So amazing you got to attend his conference. Congrats on becoming part of the Happy Mommy Box team! 🙂
Thank you Amber! 🙂
Thank you for sharing Mandy! I just have to tell you that I was having a really rough day today and had just prayed for clarity in my life, to know what it is that I am supposed to be doing. I finished and needed something that would make me smile and I pretty much smile every time I read your blog so I immediately went online to read your latest post and BAM! There was your post on what I had just prayed about! Thank you for posting Hebrews 11:1, it was exactly what I needed to read today.
Oh Lisa…I am so encouraged by your comment and so happy that it was just what you needed in that moment. Thank you for telling me that. Stuff like that is why I keep writing!
You keep up the good work! I know how you want to be an inspiration and I just wanted to let you know that you have been so helpful to me 🙂
Thank you for sharing this inspirational and wonderful weekend with us! I’ve been working on and struggling to embrace the fuzzy future so this post was perfectly timed, to say the least.
It’s so hard, right? I constantly want answers before I make hard choices. Haha! So glad I’m not the only one!
My husband has been a big Jon Acuff fan since the beginning of Stuff Christians Like…brilliant.
I think inspiring and helping others is the best part. You are going to find your way in ALL that you do! 🙂 It is going to be SO good!
~Sarah
Awww, thank you so much Sarah! I truly appreciate your encouragement!
Love the part about having things in your life that bring JOY! I’m not a mom but can relate that every day I realize more and more that I need to get rid of the joy-suckers and start having more intentional sources in my life.
Great message, thank you!
Congrats on your new adventure at The Mommy Box. What a great opportunity. You are an inspiration. Both you and Jeff. To many, myself included.
Thank you Taynia!! I’m excited to see what Happy Mommy Box can do!
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
This literally brought tears to my eyes today. I really needed encouragement and this helped more than you know! Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put out into the universe 🙂
I’m so happy this lifted you up! Your comment lifted me UP so thank you for taking the time to type it!
I have been needing some {lots of} clarity lately. This kinda hit home for me. Thanks.
So glad Betsy!!
Ok I have never heard of this man but I am certainly going to look him up now! It looks like you had an amazing, inspirational time and I am so happy for your new adventure. Franklin is gorgeous and I love that area of the country too! Thanks for inspiring me! Susan
Yes, you must Susan!! I can’t say enough good things about him!
I love this post! I loved Jon’s book, and am SO SO SO excited he’ll be at the Dave Ramsey LIVE event that we’re attending next month. CAN. NOT. WAIT.
How cool that you are going to the Dave event!!!! I must hear all about it when you are back!
I know!!! I am SO excited! And we got the tickets for free b/c I was one of the first 50 people to sign up for the event. So it’s like a double bonus. 🙂
This post is so inspirational, thank you Mandy! I am re-reading Jon’s book now, trying to motivate myself to find “my” way. Some days feel like such a struggle; finding time to do what I want to do vs. what needs to be done. I know it comes with the “Mom territory”, but I need to keep reaching for my goals. I’m so glad to see all the wonderful things that you are achieving, just promise to always keep writing 🙂
Girl, I agree. Somedays are hard and others are easy…but I’m always uplifted when I read his work. Keep reaching sista!!
I love this post… so encouraging! I have been trying to find my “clarity” of the future and this really put it in perspective for me. Thank you for reminding me to take that leap of faith and follow my dream!
Hebrews 11:1 is one of my favorite verses! Jon Acuff sounds like he is an extraordinary speaker! Someday I would like to get to one of of these conferences! =)
What a fun trip! I bet the conference was amazing and so cool that you got to spend so much time with the Acuffs! Super excited about the happy mommy box… I know with you two behind it, it will do great things. Encouraging and inspiring moms and encouraging others in their dream has been my passion for the past year, too. It’s just where I have felt called to be.
Also! Super crazy! By The Frothy Monkey started in my home town of Ruston, Louisiana! When I was in college at La Tech, it opened up as a coffee shop there. And when I just saw it in your post I flipped! I guess the owner moved to Nashville because the Ruston location closed when the Nashville location opened. So fun! We used to have lots of “study” sessions at the Frothy Monkey.
Yay!! I’m so excited to watch you and Natalie conquer the world with Happy Mommy Box! You guys will be such a great team! Looks like an amazing an inspiring conference! Hope you’re having a wonderful week, Mandy!
~Abby =)
Mandy, what an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your Start Conference experience with us. This post is so timely for me. Just what I needed to hear. Isn’t God’s timing amazing?!? Love the scripture Hebrews 11:1. Stay strong in your faith & let him do the work. I know that God is going to use you and Natalie to do something AWESOME with Happy Mommy Box. I wanna be a Happy Mommy. Mamas need Happy Mommy Box. Mamas need you & Natalie. Have a blessed week! Jen
I am a big fan of Jon Acuff’s, and I think it’s awesome that you got to attend this conference and meet his family, too! The message behind “Start” is an awesome one–it’s great that it has inspired you!