On Saturday afternoon at 4, you would have found me sitting on a piano bench against a conference hall wall with my face in my hands crying to a friend.
This conference newbie had officially become overwhelmed.
I was worried going into Allume that I may miss out on a session and while I did miss many wonderful sessions, at 4pm on Saturday it was clear the speakers God had led me to had struck a chord.
On Thursday night Phil Vischer made us laugh and cry with his story about Big Idea Productions and reminded us to love God more than any dream we have.
Sarah Mae reminded us to keep our life more than any blog.
On Friday morning, Sarah Markley inspired me, reminding me to find God in the every day. She taught me how to tether truth with story and made us cry when she read her story of how she found God in a fish.
Darren Rowse humbly presented lessons he’d learned in the past 10 years of blogging. What a blessing for him to share. He gave me a laundry list of to-do items including knowing our audience. But in the midst, I couldn’t help but feel a wee bit small knowing I started this blog 6 months before he started his first. Or knowing his eBook sold $70,000 in 7 days and mine, well, didn’t.
Friday afternoon Trina Holden was just what I needed. She encouraged us to find our kingdom-driven why of blogging. She reminded us smaller bloggers that it was a gift we had that we could interact so intimately with our current readers and that’s just what we should do. Making even a 1% difference in 1 life is impact.
The Nester inspired by teaching us about how to find our purpose and helping us to say no when it’s needed.
On Saturday Darren captured the crowd with his story of blogging. And the one person I had compared myself to reminded me I should only compare me to me. Celebrate the growth that’s there. He reinforced Trina’s comments to care for the readers I already have. He challenged us to take small actions even if the big picture was daunting. And most of all, he encouraged us to feast on the Lord.
Stephanie Bryant was a treasure of insight on creating and managing your online brand.
Tsh Oxenreider encouraged us once again to find our purpose in blogging, work smart and be real. She inspired us to think outside the box and think about eBooks, training or podcasts. She encouraged us to get an editorial calendar and delegate what we could.
And finally, Kat Lee burned with a passion as she spoke about knowing our audience and having a passion for their needs. She talked about the body of Christ marching into the darkness and letting God shine.
It was then I walked out, managed to get some coffee with a friend, and then sat on a piano bench in a hall with her and cried.
The speakers were so full of wisdom. I’ve spent nearly an entire month here posting about its benefits and I so wanted to soak it all up and do every single bit. What is my purpose? Who are my readers? eBooks? Training? Auto-responders? Online brand? I was overwhelmed with wanting to serve you well for the Kingdom’s sake that there was no clear starting point.
I’m just a girl with a blog that loves Jesus and wants to share life with people she loves.
After the tears and the big breaths, I escaped to my room but managed to come out for dinner and the closing session.
Ann Voskamp closed with an absolutely beautiful, timely message. I scratched on my notebook quickly every few sentences feeling as if I were scribing another chapter of Proverbs—you know, that one about blogging. Most of all, she reminded me to turn my ear towards Christ. Lean on the Guide not the guidebook. If indeed I do have a place in blogging, He will guide me.
I flew home yesterday, eager to get to my family realizing this was a lesson for all of us. Life is overwhelming but God is in control. We never know where to start or what to pick to do or what people think of us but if we’d just turn our ear towards Him, He has the answer.
The fear of human opinion disables;
trusting in God protects you from that. Proverbs 29:25
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I was an obsessive note-taker at Allume. Could I serve you by typing them and sharing as a PDF? Please let me know and I will be happy to and share on our Facebook page. UPDATE: Doc is posted to the Facebook page! Enjoy!
Thank you for reading, my dear readers. Please know you were thought of intensely all weekend.