Jody Capehart Speaks

As many of you will remember, I did a book review on a great inspirational book called Once Upon A Time, by Jody Capehart.

I found so much inspiration and words of wisdom from this book - laughs and tears - that I was extremely excited to finally meet the author herself.

My Mom to Mom group at St. Andrews Methodist Church held a Mom to Mom conference in which Jody was the guest speaker. She was as much of a riot as she depicted herself in the book! She is filled with such great love and humility. You can tell from simply meeting her - her love of education and of children!

The theme of the presentation was "The Fragrance of Our Friendship" and conveyed the nature of our friendships with other women and the dynamics between different personality types through the DISC model. I learned that I was and Inspirational Doer! I always want to talk talk talk, but have a "I need to get things done" attitude. Very type A!

One of the most encouraging points that she made was in asking "How can I prepare the soil for a healthy friendship?"

1) Spend our time in prayer - Being quiet with ourselves and God

2) Recognizing our own flaws

* Are you able to "hear" the truth from a friend in love, rather than in criticism?

I think that this is the hardest thing to do for women.

3) Forgiveness

* By eliminating the rocks of resentment, you become free

By having this relationship with the Father, we are able to become self confident and assured in ourselves and in that, strengthen our friendships with other women and moms.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

One of the last statements that she made, and in which I LOVED, was a closing to the gardening analogy. "When you prune...it comes back bigger and stronger". If we prune the thorns and dead branches from our own self, we will come back a much stronger woman!

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Of course I had to snag her to take a picture real quick:

Me and Jody

I, once again, recommend that every woman read this book! You won't regret it!