She Speaks

This past weekend, I was browsing around the blogosphere and stumbled upon the She Speaks Conference. I was intrigued because She Speaks is exactly the kind of conference I would be interested in.

When my daughter was born last summer, God began to move my heart and I realized that my ministry now, is to my family and to women. I started participating in a women's small group, and looking for ways to minister to women inside the body of Christ. I also began volunteering at a Pregnancy Support Center, and seeking ways I could be Christ to women outside the church.

I have been amazed at the doors God has allowed me to walk through in the past seven months! I have begun counseling and sharing Christ with clients at the PSC. I have found small ways to help and encourage my sisters in Christ-- meals, cards, prayer, watching their children... Recently I have been asked to speak at our Sunday School's upcoming Women's Retreat in the mountains of North Carolina! I am seeing the super-amazing ways God moves when we join Him where He is working, roll up our sleeves, and do what needs to be done.

This is a new blog for me, although I have been a part of the blogging world since 2005. I started a blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, and recently started this "blank page" as a way to focus more on my writing, and join the ranks of mommy bloggers who are changing the world! I would love to learn more about how to blog effectively, as well as market myself as a writer (I am interested in being published in women's magazines as well as in children's literature).

All this to say that She Speaks caught my eye, but being a new stay at home mom (and teacher's wife), the money would be a big obstacle for me. I tried to put the conference out of mind. This afternoon though, I happened upon Lysa Terkeurst's blog and she's offering a scholarship to one lucky blogger! I have never won anything in the blogosphere and honestly, I don't really have my hopes up too high, but it would be really awesome to join the ranks of the women at She Speaks, glean from their knowledge and experience, and bring it all back here to my little place on the map.

So, maybe this will be my first bloggy win! You never know...