This weekend I attended the schweetest conference on the planet, Allume, and I wish everyone could blog just so they could go there and soak up the love. The Allume brains asked us to write about what we learned at the conference. I could wax on and wax off about the deep spiritual soaking that my soul received, but I’m a practical girl and I’m going with bras.
I bought a new one right before the conference, and that experience is a story in itself. I’m glad I did, because the girls got a workout at Allume.
When you out yourself as a hug slut on open mic night and invite everyone to “bring it in,” there are some beautiful sisters who take you up on it. After reading Dating for Moms, I stepped away from the microphone and into the arms of the yummiest bear hug.
The next day, as I moved from session to session, I had women full frontal hugging me at the elevators and down the hallways. I even had one awesome sauce blogger come up and chest bump me, no arms needed.
As everyone shared about the incredible God moments and spiritual breakthroughs of the conference, I talked about boob mash-ups with total strangers.
The non-huggers reading this are full body shuddering right now. Sorry. You’re safe. You’re loved. You need not share your boobs with me. Maybe we could bump pointer fingers or just head nod. Maybe in a wild gesture of bravery, you could side hug someone today.
I’ve wrestled with the idea of bravery. At the conference, I saw women bravely speaking on stage, women bravely teaching sessions that scared the pants off them, women bravely introducing themselves at roundtables. Talk of diarrhea and stress poo was a common theme.
Bravery doesn’t flow out of us naturally. It comes from one small step after one small step.
We practice being brave.
Logan bravely took the reins of the conference and prayed big, brave prayers. Ann Voskamp bravely flew away from the farmhouse to bravely take the stage and share her beautiful words. Jennie Allen bravely obeyed God and ditched her prepared talk to deliver the message she bravely spoke.
The session speakers were brave to share their craft, some of them speaking publicly for the first time. Asher bravely started Sole Hope and moved her family to Uganda and came back to bravely invite all of us to get involved.
I heard brave women share stories of valor from the pit of motherhood and marriage on open mic night. For some of us, we were brave to walk through the front doors, tell anyone our blog address, and attend that session that scared the crap out of us.
What did I learn at Allume? Practice being brave. It’s a practice. One small brave step every day. Whatever little seed that God has planted in your soul, be brave with it. Cultivate it and practice brave.
And also, wear a good bra and go for the full frontal.
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image from brassiereboutique.ca
