2019 Moms in the Making Conference
It’s Thanksgiving Day and I couldn’t think of many other things that I’m thankful for more than this ministry right here.
Moms in the Making is a faith-based infertility support group with more than 40 in-person groups that meet all over the country. The ministry also hosts a women’s conference in October each year in the DFW area.
If you, or someone you know, have struggled with infertility in any way, you have to at least give them a chance. Check it out on Facebook or the website. I’m not exaggerating when I say these women and this community have changed my life. I don’t know where I’d be without them. They lead me back to Jesus through every disappointment and they remind me of the truth of who I am - a daughter in Christ, fully known, and fully loved.
My 2018 Moms in the Making Conference post can be found HERE! It was so fun to look back at that post to remember all of the amazing memories from our weekend together last year.
The 2019 conference weekend started on a Thursday afternoon with the Leader Hangout! These precious women are seriously the BEST.
These ladies lead infertility support groups out of their homes all over the country every other week! I continue to be amazed by their bravery and commitment to vulnerably share the most private spaces in their hearts with other women. They each carry the aroma of Christ. Seriously, when I’m with them, I can smell Jesus.
The hangout included a private party bus ride around Las Colinas, cupcakes, and girl time!
Being their honorary, adopted photog is the absolute joy of my LIFE. They have changed me in all the best ways.
Hundreds of ladies began to arrive on Friday afternoon. Many were nervous about what the conference would hold. There was so much excitement and anticipation in the room and their hunger for the Lord was evident. They came ready to receive with open ears and tender hearts.
Founder, Caroline Harries, kicked off the first session. Her hope for every woman in the auditorium was to never doubt God’s love for them ever again. She acknowledged that most of the women were there because they’ve experienced extreme disappointment on their journey to become a mother.
Caroline began her message by sharing Galatians 5:9, “Don’t you know that when you allow even a little lie into your heart, it can permeate your entire belief system?”
She reminded us that if we have a skewed view of scripture or a theology that is even slightly off, the little lies will creep in and we’ll wonder where God is when life gets hard.
“We don’t have to prove ourselves or work for it. The inheritance that God left us is ours to receive in faith. It’s a grace gift. No amount of striving, working, or performing would change the gift. You get to receive the gift like a child.”
“If we don’t know God is good and that He loves us, when bad things happen, fences will go up. Through studying and reading His Word, through worship (even in a hard season), through prayer and conversation, a greater understanding of His love will come to you.”
“What would your journey look like if you came to the place of complete trust and rest in the Father and in His plan for your future? What would your journey look like if you were free of fear and anxiety?”
- Caroline Harries
(See: Genesis 3, Romans 5, 8:31-38, 10:9, 1 John 4:18 for further study.)
After the opening session, we were dismissed to our first Breakthrough Session. I attended my sweet friend Jessica Colwell’s session. I had recently interviewed her for my blog. She is one of the most incredible women I’ve ever met. Every time she speaks, I hang on her every word, so expectant about the faith she’ll speak into the atmosphere!
She spoke on communicating with God. In her words, how we view God impacts how we communicate with Him. If we’ve spent time with Him, we can speak to Him like our best friend.
“He can be trusted with the hard stuff. He’s so big, so why would we think for a second that He would just use words to communicate? He is in everything. He’s always talking. Are we listening? Are you willing to be a part of this communication? Sit with Him. Ask Him to bring Jesus in. Receive His love.”
- Jessica Colwell
It’s important to me to share my notes on this blog because the messages these women brought to us were filled with so much truth and power. I go back to my notes from the 2018 conference all the time, so I want to have a record of my notes here, too. I hope someone else is blessed by the notes from the main sessions and breakthrough sessions I attended.
Friday evening was full of worship, ministry, encouragement, and the love of Jesus. Melanie Murphy “introduced” us to the Holy Spirit, her friend.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
He is the advocate.
He will be with us forever.
He prays for us and pleads to God for us.
He strengthens us with power to abound in hope.
He is the Spirit of Truth.
He is an honest friend; He tells us the truth.
He proves the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgement.
He IS power and empowers us to be more like Jesus.
He reminds us of all of the words Jesus spoke.
He testifies about Jesus and draws us closer to Him.
He convicts and tells us the truth.
He knows all and teaches us all things.
(See: Ephesians 3:14-21, Psalm 103:19, 115:3, Hebrews 10:12-15, John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, 16:8-11, Romans 8:11, 8:26, 15:13, Luke 3:21-22, Acts 2:39, and Mark 4:22 for further study.)
It was so fun to see so many of my sweet friends sporting the Love Like Jesus shirts and sweaters I’d recently designed. I was so sad that I didn’t plan well enough to get everyone in the shot, but here are some of my fraaaands and their cute shirts!
One of my favorite blessings of the weekend was spending quality time with this beautiful woman of God, my sweet friend Stephanie. Brian and I went to college with her husband, Brett, and we’ve stayed in touch since then. We roomed together at the hotel Friday night - sharing holy conversations, Oreos, and matching Moms in the Making pajamas!
My favorite thing in the whole world is watching my friends experience this community and this conference. I can’t wait to see who will join us in October 2020!
Stephanie, you are such a precious child of God. He loves you so much. He has carried you through so much. He will sit with you as long as it takes. Get comfy in His arms. Settle in. He’s not in a rush. He will refine your heart in the process, as long as it takes.
Saturday morning began with a few appreciation gifts and raffle winners. One precious lady received a FREE IVF cycle sponsored by CNY Fertility. And in an incredible act of selflessness and mercy, the winner graciously gave the free IVF cycle to a friend. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. So amazing!
After the fun announcements, we were ushered straight into the presence of God. Prayers were led from the stage as women gathered around each other to pray over one another. This was the most powerful part of the conference for me. There wasn’t any music or fancy lighting. Just the Holy Spirit and a room full of women crying out to Him on each other’s behalf. It doesn’t get any better than that!
The next Breakthrough Session I attended was “Intimacy with the Father,” led by the one and only Jessica Satterfield. Jessica and Caroline run (my favorite) weekly podcast, A Cup Full of Hope. If you’ve never heard of it, I highly recommend that you check it out. Be sure to start at episode one and then have fun binge-listening from there.
Jessica shared her testimony so beautifully in the session. She let us in on some of the sacred parts of her heart and the private moments she’s experienced with Jesus. In her words, the most intimate space you can have with someone is when you’re close enough to smell their breath. The cry of her heart is to smell the breath of God every single day.
“Infertility is a small part of my story, but one good thing it did was make me desperate for more of God.”
“If you want to build intimacy with God, you can. Position yourself near to Him. That’s where all of your life is born. Being near and investing time and showing up builds intimacy. We have full access to sit in the Father’s lap. To be fully His, we have to give him all of our heart, even the places where we feel like hiding.”
- Jessica Satterfield
See Ephesians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Genesis 16, Song of Songs 2:9, 4:9, Luke 14:24 for further study.)
I was also able to attend my sweet friend Amanda’s leadership luncheon and Caroline’s session, “Perfect Love Casts Out…” based on 1 John 4:18, “Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.”
Although we wished it could last forever, the conference sadly had to come to an end at some point. We ended the night with a message from Jeffie Jones called, “Named by Love,” and a sweet time of worship with our sisters.
Trying to put words together to describe this conference is like trying to explain what the presence of God is like. Because that’s what it was. We were ushered into His presence for 30 hours and words just don’t suffice.
In Romans, Paul says that the kingdom of God is righteousness (or kindness), peace, and joy. And this is the only explanation I have. Being led and shepherded by these women ushers me into the presence and the kingdom of God. He changed so many things within me and in so many of these women and I just can’t wait to see what happens next!
Will you join me next year? There’s a place for you, friend.
I’ll save you a seat.
I’m so glad you’re here, friend. I’m not sure how you found this post, but I continue to be amazed by the internets. It brings us together in such beautiful ways and reminds us that we’re more alike than different. More united than divided. Whether you spend a minute or an hour on this page, know that Jesus loves you like crazy. Like CRAZY. I’d love to hear how I can pray for you. Would you let me know here?
