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Maggie Whitley

joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith & simple living

You are here: Home / blog & handmade advice / blog/craft events / When she speaks encouraging words.

When she speaks encouraging words.

April 1, 2014 · 17 Comments
Filed Under: blog/craft events, Faith

I woke early Friday morning to catch a 7:30 flight that would take me from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City to Dallas, all for the glory-ness of Hope Spoken. It had been a l o n g time since I traveled to a blog conference. Long like almost 18 months, but I was equal parts excited and nervous. My sister-in-law flew in the night before and Bauer & Maxwell kept her busy on Friday (although rumor has it Bauer slept all day). I imagine the two of them just soaked each other in :) I love so much that she is here right now with us a couple more days.

So much great happened over the weekend in Dallas. Great speakers. Great food. Great friends hugged. Great mental rest. Great-full.

hope spoken maggie whitley

Ashley of The Vanilla Tulip + Casey Wiegand + Ruth of Grace Laced

It’s almost hard to type this out, but then I re-read my notes and decide it to be true: my most memorable moment from the conference is when Shauna Niequist spoke on “more love/less busy”. And yes, I was taking notes because it was just that good. And one more thing, can I be honest with you? What Shauna said on Saturday totally had me in tears… for most of her time on stage. What she shared was so inspiring:

– Dr. Henry Cloud said it first, “No” is a complete sentence

– Doing more and more and more will not bring you more

– Will saying “yes” allow me to live a less frantic life?

– Exodus 18:17-18

– Psalms 16:5-6

– Mark 8:36

– Luke 10:38-42

– Don’t be afraid to: become irresponsible, stop hustling, be the person God created you to be, stop being frantic

hope spoken maggie whitley

Joy Prouty + Dee of Red Letter Words

But a close runner up, my second most memorable moment from Hope Spoken, is being able to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. There is just something so fulfilling about spending time with women that desire to know God more. When she speaks encouraging words about Him, they stick around for quite some time.

hope spoken maggie whitley

Many asked me how I was handling being away from Maxwell — this was my first overnight trip without him.

So to be honest, it was such an easy weekend for me. I knew Maxwell was loving his time with his aunt Tiffany. I knew he was going to go hiking on Saturday. I knew his Sunday afternoon was going to include church and the flea market (and turns out, also a trip to the cupcake shop).

But perhaps the real reason I had such a great weekend is because everyone in our family wanted me to be gone. Their support blessed me. They knew this time away would be so good for my heart, not just my mama heart but my Maggie heart, too.

And Hope Spoken it was.

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17 Comments
Filed Under: blog/craft events, Faith

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Comments

  1. Southern Gal says

    April 1, 2014 at 4:04 am

    It sounds like a fabulous, uplifting time of friends and fun!

    Reply
  2. Skye says

    April 1, 2014 at 5:22 am

    It was so great to meet you this weekend! I really wish we could have grabbed coffee and chatted for a good long while but conferences can be SO overwhelming and I didn’t want to occupy any of your spirit because I figured you had a lot to take in as it was. Hopefully we can soon! xo

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      April 1, 2014 at 10:10 am

      @Skye, I wish we would have chatted longer… we certainly have a lot of years & moments that connect us :)

      Reply
  3. Pat says

    April 1, 2014 at 7:03 am

    Sounds like an incredibly blessed time, just what you needed, and God met you there!

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      April 1, 2014 at 10:10 am

      @Pat, yes — yes yes! :)

      Reply
  4. Anna French says

    April 1, 2014 at 7:16 am

    I am so glad to have finally met you. Maybe next year we can chat some more. :) xoxo

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      April 1, 2014 at 10:11 am

      @Anna French, can we please???? :)

      Reply
  5. Shelly Wildman says

    April 1, 2014 at 10:42 am

    Oh how fun! I remember meeting you at a blogging conference lots of years ago–what a highlight! Hope we have the chance to meet again. :)

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      April 1, 2014 at 10:51 am

      @Shelly Wildman, As long as it includes twin seats on an airplane ;D

      Reply
  6. Tara says

    April 2, 2014 at 5:33 am

    Thank you so much for sharing the session with Shauna – it was truly a word from the Spirit of the Lord for me this morning. I asked my husband yesterday what one thing was that I needed to work on in my life – he said not staying too busy, which I do daily. We talked it out, and I loved hearing it and starting to apply it mentally and this helped so much.
    Blessings!

    Reply
  7. Kristin S says

    April 2, 2014 at 7:34 am

    Oh, Maggie, I’m so glad you were able to go!

    Reply
  8. Sarah Milligan says

    April 3, 2014 at 8:43 am

    This is a really beautiful post. I’m so glad you had a chance to get away and recharge… it’s the best when, as you say, your family wants you to be gone. When they give you the mental ‘permission’ you need to step away and not think about them at all. Because as mothers (let alone creatives and business owners!) that is what we need to truly relax. :)

    Reply
    • Maggie Whitley says

      April 7, 2014 at 5:06 pm

      @Sarah Milligan, Thank you Sarah!

      Reply
  9. Kate @ Songs Kate Sang says

    April 5, 2014 at 7:05 am

    It was so good to see you and just catch up with you! You are a special lady.

    Reply
  10. Ashley says

    April 10, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    WHY OH WHY can you not live in Texas?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? :)
    Talk to zacky poo about that ;)

    Reply
  11. Heart n Soul says

    April 13, 2014 at 5:25 pm

    Sounds amazing, precious memories for sure and so good to take time out to be you amidst the roles we carry as mother, daughter, lover, friend, nurturer, chef, home planner, life coach and all the other roles in between. Nice to have found your lovely blog.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How to read a book. says:
    April 7, 2014 at 3:01 am

    […] strangest thing happened to me recently. I went out of town. Actually, I went far far out of town to Dallas, and suddenly I had about 10 hours of travel time in front of me. And somehow I had remembered to […]

    Reply

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ABOUT MAGGIE WHITLEY DESIGNS:
Maggie Whitley weaves her writings around joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith, and simple living. She homeschools her children, enjoys a quiet room while reading, and roars with laughter over the challenges & delights of motherhood. Maggie and her husband, along with their four young children, live in metro-Detroit. She has been writing online since 2008.
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We came home and I made “the best dinner ever”. Max specifically announced, “it’s so great you’re launching new meals to the world”. LOL— kids! 🤣👏🏻💓
How about a little Wednesday night introduction? 😘Social media sure has changed over the years and we don’t always SEE who we’re following or remember WHY we’re following certain accounts. 

So, hello! As you can gather, my name is Maggie ;) 

I started writing online (almost 13 years ago) to share the handmade products I was sewing. My shop was called Gussy Sews. ✂️👛I love the community that has grown from sewing & sharing online.

Let’s FFW to today: Zack and I live in Michigan and have four young children (2 boys & 2 girls). I slowly left the handmade industry and walked right into homemaking, homeschooling, and encouraging women through writing. 💕📝

Motherhood has been very hard on me. (And not just because of how close in age our four children are.) It’s been hard for me because I fought for years to accept that *it’s supposed to be hard*. 

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(I’ve had to be really vulnerable!)

So, yes motherhood has fully transformed me. But even more so, Christ has fully transformed me. My list of “all that He’s done for me” is off to a beautifully long start.

Something else I want you to know about me: I stalled for years before acknowledging I have anxiety and depression. It’s hard to talk about this because of course this isn’t forever “my hardship”, but rather because acknowledging this means to heal I have to work through some really difficult things. ✨

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What are you reading this year? Currently?

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