I’ve been so excited to finally write about the amazing Mother’s Day Charity Brunch that occurred earlier this month!

Wow.  This was one of the happiest days of my life, honestly.  Everything came together so beautifully.  I felt extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing mothers in attendance. Also, I’m sooo grateful for the amazingly talented Cortney Finlayson for sharing her photography talents with us. I’m just thrilled with the photos she created from this event which you’ll get to see below. Thank you so much, Cortney!!

To start off the event, we heard from the amazing Deborah Gardner (shown below – center – with her mother and sister-in-law), President and Co-Founder of One Heart Bulgaria.  She spoke on “Mothering with Vision,” sharing strategies to better nurture ourselves, our families and the world.  Deborah is an amazing person, especially an example of how to be an outstanding mother while also providing aid and relief to children on the other side of the world.  Just incredible.

As part of her presentation we showed this inspiring video feature of her created by Mormon.org:

Then Venko Cook shared his story of growing up as an orphan in Bulgaria until the age of 7 when he was adopted and brought to the United States.  What an incredible story and an amazing young man (shown below with his mother and me).

Then we enjoyed a scrumptious brunch provided by Maxi’s Deli.  SOOOO delicious!  Wow.

After eating, we had the pleasure of hearing from the incredible Linda Eyre.  She spoke on “Finding Yourself Amidst the Madness.”  I had never met Linda previously, but was very impressed by her.  What a wonderful woman.  It was such an honor to have her with us that day.

Following, Linda, we had the awesome, Garrett J. White speak about “Mothers Living on Fire with Passion and Purpose.” In many ways, Garrett inspired this event, largely because of my participation in his incredible Paid to Play Academy.  Through his coaching and support, I’ve found more fully who I truly am, as well as seeing more fully my mission here on Earth (which definitely involves mothering my children and strengthening mothers).  Garrett (my long, lost brother) is a HUGE reason why I’m experiencing so much more peace, passion and purpose in my life, especially in parenting.

Then I spoke about, “Activating Our Brilliance and Gifts in Motherhood.” This topic really resonates with me.  As mothers we too often get bogged down by the “shoulds” and “have to do’s.”  We miss out on opportunities for our life, through God, to feed us bliss, peace and happiness.  We all have talents and were born to stand in light and brilliance.  We were born to live beautifully, full of love and life.  The first step in experiencing these truths more fully is knowing who you truly are, which involves knowing Who’s you are.  This isn’t just some out-there, metaphysical mumbo-jumbo; it’s attainable.  It’s real.  I’m extremely passionate about this topic and could go on and on, but I’ll save it for future blog posts *wink*.

Afterwards, we announced the winners of our raffle drawings, gave away gift bags and spent time connecting with each other.

Everything came together perfectly.  I am still in awe at what was created that day.

This event was such an extraordinary opportunity teaching me how to be led by faith and create what I feel God inspired me to. I nearly cancelled the event the week before due to last-minute panic and doubt.  In the end, though, faith prevailed, for which I will be eternally grateful. My heart is still so full to have seen how touched the attendees were by the messages and the spirit of the event.  I could see them filled with love, light and hope for their lives.  They left inspired to live their lives with more passion and purpose.  We were all strengthened by coming together in the divine cause of strengthening and celebrating mothers.

The icing on the cake was that through our efforts, we raised enough money to pay for a “baba” (Bulgarian “grandma”) to come nurture and help the children for over 6 months.  One Heart Bulgaria receives requests for babas all of the time from orphanages looking for support.  What a blessing to be able to help in this way!

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Here’s what some of the attendees had to say about their experience:

“That event was AMAZING. And the best money I’ve ever spent. So uplifting and empowering (and yummy) and fun!” – Holly

“Thank you so much for putting on the brunch today. It was a beautiful morning and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to attend. It was such a privilege to meet you as well. You have a warm heart and a wonderful spirit about you!” – Stephanie

“I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for a beautiful morning.  You are right, it NEEDED to happen. It was beautiful and touching and the perfect gift for my mother for Mother’s Day.  My heart is full, and I just wanted you to know that I am behind you 150% to make any further events like this a success.” – Kim

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I’d also like to specially thank each of the sponsors for this event.  We couldn’t have done it without your OUTSTANDING support (Noah’s, Oopsie Daisy Boutique, Amano Artisan Chocolate, The R House Couture, Old Town Imports, Trellis Garden and Design Center and the Sandy Bosch Kitchen Center)!!!

Tagged as: mothers day charity brunch