One Fabulous Friday

I know the first-day Convention celebrations lasted late into Thursday evening, but the house was still packed bright and early for Friday's general session. During this session, I had a few favorite moments I'd love to share; the first was having crafting rockstar Stacy Julian as our keynote presenter. Many know her work as a scrapbooker, presenter, and magazine and company founder, but did you also know that she was once a Consultant for Close To My Heart's predecessor, DOTS?

I knew Stacy well when she was a Consultant and loved working with her! She has such a great, positive energy, and she elevates everyone she's around. "Back in the day" she worked with me on shooting videos for our how-to programs and we became close friends. Reconnecting with someone like that is almost magic, it's like no time at all has passed, and she did an amazing job sharing her story and inspiring all of us to better capture everyday memories and define our own "Enough Quotient." I have invested a lot of effort and thought, particularly in the past couple of years, to defining what is "enough" for me, and I will tell you, it is one of the most satisfying and peace-bringing processes in the world!

I also loved our presentation on Operation Smile. A few years ago, David and I were privileged to participate in a medical mission to Mexico along with doctors, nurses, and other volunteers from Operation Smile. The experiences we had, the people we met, and the miracles I saw wrought in front of my own eyes absolutely changed my life. More than ever, I know that a key purpose of our lives on earth is to help our brothers and sisters and to bless their lives with the talents, time, and resources we have. In Friday's general session, it brought me great joy to see a Consultant chosen to have this same life-changing experience! Kelly Hammonds won our Make A Miracle challenge and submitted the most in donations during first quarter to Operation Smile, she'll be representing Close To My Heart when she serves as a volunteer this fall on a medical mission to the Philippines, the very place where Operation Smile began when Dr. Bill Magee and his wife Kathy visited 30 years ago. What an honor for us to be a small part in this important milestone that blesses the lives of so many!

 We were also able to honor several more Consultants who have been doing great work for Operation Smile. All brought onstage were given our new Cricut Artiste Collection as a thank-you gift, but the great thing about these ladies is that they did the work without ever anticipating a reward or acknowledgement. They do good just because it's the right thing to do! 

We also needed to spotlight one more great contributor who made more than $1,000 in donations to Operation Smile during the year: SHARON ESAU!  Sharon was at Convention and did a great job collecting donations--Sharon, I'm so sorry that we didn't recognize you onstage that morning! We missed a cog in the reporting with Operation Smile, but I wanted to give you a special shout out now (as well as an Artiste collection of your own--hopefully, you've received it already!) You have my gratitude, Sharon, as do each of these great Consultants who so selflessly worked to collect donations without ever expecting a reward.

 And we even surprised a Consultant not at Convention by calling her while she was working at a service camp for her church. Katy Carlson and three of her team members had collectively raised more than $11,000 for Operation Smile with a single event—amazing!—and we had to reach out with our thanks and another unanticipated reward: a free day of creativity and workshop projects for 20 guests sponsored by the CTMH executive team. Congrats (and thank you!) to Katy, Kelly, and all Consultants who work so hard to make a difference with Operation Smile. I share your passion and thank you from the bottom of my heart. And for those of you wondering, we totaled the results from our silent and live auctions and other donations made during Convention. The total? Nearly $19,000! It's absolutely incredible. YOU are absolutely incredible. Thank you for your generosity.

Now, I said in my post yesterday, there are a few "favorite" moments of Convention that I look forward to every year. The first is the doors opening on our kickoff session. The second happens during our Awards Gala. I really love everything about our awards night, the dinner is fabulous, everyone looks so beautiful, and the entertainment is great. This year's entertainment was beyond fantastic! We hosted the Texas Tenors and their rendition of Nessum Dorma nearly had me in tears! It resonated right down into my core. As fantastic as they were, however, my favorite part of the evening is our awarding of the Spirit of Close To My Heart. This year's winner is Karen Pedersen, a dear friend who I have loved and admired for years. Many know she is a former Mrs. Utah and I can tell you that Karen is just as beautiful INSIDE as she is outside. She's a wonderfully devoted mother, a loving wife, and truly a supportive voice to all who need her strength. This is no small talent, either Karen's road has had many bumps and turns, particularly recently, and yet I don't think I've ever seen her radiance blink or her faith waver.

 At the Spirit alumni luncheon the following day, all the past recipients of the award gather. They ALL commented how they felt unworthy to be in such fine company, and how completely surprised they were when they were announced as the winner. Karen noted that she even leaned over to her tablemates moments before her name was announced and she told them: "Listen up for this part! The Spirit Award is a BIG DEAL." You could see the shock on her face when she realized the video was her own story! That's yet another thing I love about our Spirit winners: they are incredibly humble, almost unaware of their own extraordinaryness! But you ARE extraordinary, Karen, and you definitely belong in this esteemed group!