The Influence Conference

The Influence Conference was AMAZING and I feel so honored and blessed to be a part of such a great conference.  I photographed the weekend and I’m so excited for you to see the pics!  I’m still busy editing, but hop on over to Jessi’s blog if you want to see some sweet shots from her instagram feed.

I met so many wonderful women and a few of my favorite bloggy friends such as Jami Nato, Emily Freeman, Emily Anderson, Emily Jones (Emily was the theme name for the conference), Jessi Connolly, Raechel Meyers, Jessica Turner, and Shannan Martin!

It was also amazing to meet my blogging friend, Emily from Sweet to the Soul!!  Emily flew up to Birmingham and we drove to Indianapolis and roomed together at the conference!  It was so much fun to meet and experience our first blogger’s conference together.

The speakers were amazing, the information was amazing, the women involved in the conference are amazing, the gifts were amazing (more on those later!) and there was free Starbucks coffee served the whole weekend.  Yea, like I said….AMAZING!

I really enjoyed watching everyone getting ready for the conference via Facebook and Instagram.  I think we as women are such funny creatures.  We stressed about what to wear, what to bring, etc. etc. etc.  Yet, I noticed and continually felt a common theme in these women who share a common thread —- everyone was equal.  I loved, loved, loved how the hosts made us ALL feel so welcome and awesome.  It was such a common theme leading up to the weekend as well as while we were there.  I loved this!  It took so much pressure off!  I loved how we could just be ourselves and I thank the hosts for the standards of this way.  It gave me the freedom to tell the truth when meeting a fellow blogger for the first time…to say that I hadn’t pooped in 3 days and my pits were sweating so bad that I had to adopt Jami Nato’s compromise of tissue in the shirt to get by! I loved how comfortable everyone felt and made me feel.  Thank you for that, new friends!  And thank you, Jami Nato, for teaching me so much.  The pits trick and about Agape forgiveness.  You truly rock.

Since we’re being honest here, I thought I’d share a few instagrams and their captions that perhaps one may never actually see on instagram.  At least this is about how my life was the week before the conference….

“But officer, I’m going to a faith-based conference this weekend where over two hundred other Christian women will be lifted up and encouraged in order to influence others all for His glory, in Jesus’ name!”

“We have HOW MUCH MONEY?!  Now I can’t pay that speeding ticket before I drive 8 hours to the conference.  Hope I don’t get pulled over.  That’s all I need…..Lady doesn’t show up at Christian blogger’s conference because she IS IN JAIL!”

“This morning I enjoyed a nice cup of joe with my SheReadsTruth bible study reading……and 6 Krispy Kremes….Don’t judge. The hot light was on!”

“Annnnnnnd this is how I will have to wear my skinny jeans all weekend at the conference!”

“I don’t think I can leave my kids for that long, I may miss something cute they do…..said no one ever….”

This one….needs no caption.

In all seriousness, the conference was awesome.  It’s an amazing feeling when over 200 women get together and worship, serve, and grow in the Lord.  I’m so blessed I got to attend and be a part of this.  I know God blessed everyone there so it could equip us to go out and bless others.