Uplift Families Conference 2015

Written by: Janae Moss

It’s funny how life works, sometimes.

We wake up, ready to tackle our day – and tell ourselves we have control over our plans. Let’s be honest – as females, we make plans since the day we were old enough to start reading, writing, and playing make believe. We play M.A.S.H., play house,  and play Disney movies – carefully deciding which princess we will be (and what prince we will marry). When we’re a little older, we talk of boys and dating, still planning for our perfect careers, families and beyond. We expect our world to comply with our strategy – and then…

LIFE HAPPENS.

The timing may be different for everyone, but inevitably – sometime along the way – we all realize that our dreams of life perfection and total control, just aren’t happening. I’m not saying that things can’t and won’t go right for us, I’d NEVER say that – but I am saying that life happens, and it can be hard. Some of us face that reality sooner than others, but none of us get out of it.

On the flip side, we also experience soul busting beautiful moments! We find love and comfort with friends and family, we become pregnant and feel the presence of a sweet new soul, as they feel a heartbeat within their chest for the first time – and many more life altering experiences. We wouldn’t fully comprehend  how wonderful life is, without having experienced both emotions – and our life never ends up looking exactly as we planned it.

This is okay, and this is what life was intended to be, for our growth and happiness. But in those times we need help in our families, we need access to special tools. Sometimes we can find what we need by reaching out to friends or family. Other times, we look to the internet or books. The most important variable, is that we ask for help when we need it. We may have simple parenting questions that are easily solved, or we may find ourselves needing more extensive help. This helps us stay humble, and I don’t know if you’re like me but I can be extremely stubborn when it comes to reaching out and asking for help. I’ve raised eight kids – some as a step mom, some as a kinship care parent, some as an adoptive mom, and some as a biological mom – AND I’ve needed help for all of them in different ways!

There have been times when I’ve needed help getting food for my family, when life didn’t go just as planned, and other times when I just needed a phone number to call the right resource to solve a simple problem. I remember calling “Ask a Nurse” from a number I found in the yellow pages – just hoping that someone would answer the phone on the other end and be able to help. As I became stable in my own life, and realized that all of the crazy life experiences I’d been through had molded me for this work, I became passionate about linking others to help when they needed it. It isn’t any particular demographic that needs help – we all do. Every child is different, every parent is different and every day is different.

Over the past decade, I’ve had the opportunity to turn this passion into my life work. I’ve spent time working with many amazing people to build “Help Me Grow” in Utah, a system that connects families with existing community resources, building the 211 telephone line (did you know it’s like 911 but for family help?), representing as a “Parent Leader” both locally and nationally, and now starting the Parent Advisory Council – where YOU can choose to lead with us! Email MyMommyStyle@Gmail for more info!

Camille and I recently visited with the first lady of Utah, Mrs. Herbert. We were asked to take part in leading out her initiative “Uplift Families” in the blogging community. We were really excited to help spread the word about local community resources for parents, and we jumped on board! We talked about all of our amazing blogger friends and we knew they’d love to be that voice with us. We all met at the Governors Mansion a few weeks ago for a special kick off luncheon, and listened to Mrs. Herbert speak of her passion for supporting the families in Utah. She gave us all of the information we would need to attend her conference coming up!

The conference will feature inspiring speakers, dinner and dessert stations, exhibits and giveaways. Renowned presenters and experts on the family will give Parenting TIPS (Teaching Important Parenting Skills).

It will be amazing, and you won’t want to miss it! Get your tickets HERE to Uplift Families Parenting Conference and make sure to use our discount code to recieve $5 off your tickets. DISCOUNT CODE: MOMMY2015. 

Uplift Families is much more than just an annual parenting conference. It’s a year-round website full of information for parents with children of all ages. To learn more about the parenting conference, visit the Uplift Families Web Site.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! The seating is LIMITED, so HURRY and register A.S.A.P.!