Red State Ramblings

We are pretty fed up! This was the motto of the Young Women’s Leadership Summit https://www.tpusa.com/YWLS in Dallas TX that my best friend and I were able to take our oldest daughters to. This conference is put on by Turning Point USA (https://www.tpusa.com/). It is geared toward young conservative women. I’ll admit the main reason I wanted to attend was to see my favorite podcast host, Allie Stuckey. However, after attending I can honestly say that it was truly an encouraging weekend overall. But, I did get to have a fan-girl moment. I met and talked to Allie on the escalator. So fun! 

On Friday night we walked into the beautiful and massive Gaylord Hotel. We were greeted with hot pink and black posters sporting all kinds of cute and corny phrases like Cuteservative and Land of the Free Home of the Babes. When we entered the huge conference room, the music was bumping. There was pink smoke and bright flashing lights. There was such fun and positive energy. Our daughters were instantly excited to be there. 

I am so glad that I brought my teenage daughter, even though there were definitely mature topics being discussed, such as: abortion, gender ideology and gun rights. We talk to her about politics and things happening in the culture and she occasionally listens to Relatable with me, but honestly being around 2,900 other young women who have similar convictions and values was such an eye opening experience for her. There were many topics that I’m sure went over her head, but I would rather have her be hearing truth from like minded individuals than surrender her and her impressionable mind to the notions and trends of our culture. And let’s be honest, the event was just plain fun! We made some great mother/daughter memories. 

I will give this caveat though, this is not a Christian conference! It’s a political conference. And while I am a conservative, I am a Christian first and not vice versa. That being said, some of what was said did need to be taken with a grain of salt in light of the Gospel and God’s Word. 

There were a lot of great speakers, but here are the three main truths that I took away from our weekend at the YWLS: 

Raise a Respectful Ruckus

If you listen to the podcast Relatable by Allie Stuckey (https://alliebethstuckey.com/), this will not be a new phrase to you. Allie started her talk by opening the Bible up to Genesis to remind us all of where gender is defined. She encouraged us in our God-given role as women. She encouraged us to mother the next generation, in whatever way God has called us to whether that’s being a biological mom or by protecting the next generation by standing up for God’s truth.  She then encouraged us to Raise a Respectful Ruckus as we mother.

What does this mean? It means not to sit by and be silent while the world shouts lies. It means finding ways to be bold and speak out against the popular and ungodly ideologies that the world holds up. It means to not be afraid to ruffle feathers or question the false narratives. And it means doing all these things with grace, love, and respect. I truly appreciated Allie’s talk because she pointed everything back to the Word of God. She wasn’t on stage just raising fists at the wrongs that the “Left” or Biden has done. Instead, she was reminding Christian women that we have a very important part to play in these culture wars. We are not off the hook. We have work to do. 

Raising a respectful ruckus will look different for each individual. The important thing is that we do what we can where God has placed us. If you need more encouragement on how this can be practically done, check out my girl Erika’s latest post that talks about raising a respectful ruckus and not standing idly by if you have moved to a new state http://redstateramblings.com/how-to-destroy-your-new-state-in-5-easy-steps/

Motherhood is Awesome (and only for women)

Candace Owens (https://candaceowens.com/) graced the stage with the cutest 36wk baby bump and boldly spoke about the beauty and importance of motherhood. She said that her greatest heroes are every stay at home mom who is diligently and lovingly raising their children. I have to be honest, I was actually surprised by how sweet and gentle Candace came across. I think she usually gets pegged as spicy, feisty and maybe even contrarian. And while she may be some of these things at times, especially when she’s responding to certain false narratives, I will say that at this conference she was so sweet and gentle as she talked about how awesome motherhood is. It was so refreshing to see someone that so many young women look up to, encourage them in their femininity and their God-given roles as women and mothers.

The swag booths at the event handed out all kinds of cute buttons, posters, and stickers and I was actually so surprised to see some many say phrases like “It’s Ok to want to be a stay at home mom” and “raising your children is the ultimate boss move.” In a day and age when young women are told that children are a burden or that being a mother can ruin your life or your career, it was so incredible to hear thousands of young women be encouraged to mother, raise, and protect the next generation. 

Don’t let the twisted narrative of the world tell you that biological men can take the woman’s place as a mother. Stand against phrases like “birthing person” that seek to diminish and even erase the beauty of how God created women. 

The Cycle of Accepting Sinful Ideologies

Another interesting concept that I heard at YWLS was the cycle that usually happens to well-meaning individuals in regards to false narratives or sinful ideologies. During Matt Walsh’s (https://www.dailywire.com/author/matt-walsh) talk he explained how ideas can gain such momentum when compassionate people tolerate them. It may seem innocent and kind, but unfortunately it’s a slippery slope and soon after you have chosen to tolerate a sinful ideology, in the name of compassion, you will then be encouraged to accept it. And once you accept it, you will be persuaded to celebrate it. And once you celebrate it, you will be convinced that you should participate in it.

I can look back over the culture and politics during my lifetime and see how this cycle has worked in real time in regards to various issues. We can see this cycle happening right now in regards to the trans community. In the name of compassion, many of us showed tolerance and remained silent.  We deemed this as our way of loving this community. But that’s no longer enough, we have now reached a point in our country where we are being encouraged to participate in their ideology. We are told by the mainstream media and our culture that we need to be putting our pronouns in our bios, turning a blind eye to children attending drag shows, and accepting that biological men are now competing in women’s sports and winning the woman of the year award. 

This cycle is such a great reminder that we can’t out love God. God Himself IS love. However, in the name of compassion, we will tolerate sins thinking that it’s the loving thing to do. Unfortunately, tolerating sins is never the end. It always leads to more and deeper corruption. It’s such a great reminder that we, as Christians, need to be so firmly planted in the Word of God. We need to be courageous and bold. In a culture that lives by lies, we need to live by the one and only source of truth. 

Overall, it was such a fun weekend. I learned a lot and was encouraged more than I honestly thought I would be. Our one regret was that we didn’t shop for some cute outfits for the event. I have never seen so many cute hot pink blazers, glittery dresses or great shoes. Seriously though, so many cute outfits. We are already planning to attend again next year. So, if anyone wants to make the trek to Dallas next June, we would love to have you join us!