I’ve just spent two days at a wonderful conference in Sydney, the Renaissance of Marriage Conference, hosted by the Marriage Resource Centre.

This was a gathering of marriage educators, married couples, counsellors, social workers, clergy and others who are passionate about supporting married couples and families, and helping prepare young people for marriage.

It was a friendly, inspiring bunch of people! Highlights included meeting people in the flesh who were previously only Facebook friends or people I’d interviewed over the phone or email, hearing Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s take on young couples and families today, and Pope Francis and his letter to the Catholic Church, Joy of Love.

I also enjoyed hearing Christopher West, bestselling author and speaker, and founder of the Cor Project speak on the quest for finding our true gender identity. On both afternoons there was almost ridiculous choice of TED-style talks by quality speakers on offer, and I was very happy with the ones I chose.

Some people asked me how my husband was coping with our kids on his own, and if I was going to return home to chaos. No way! Everything was well under control. I got home at 7pm last night and he greeted me with a bowl of pasta, glass of red wine and five happy kids with two days’ worth of news – I am blessed!

It was full-on week, with one child in hospital earlier in the week having scheduled tests as well – but everything looks fine. I did have some time to notice a few gems online though, you might like to check them out too:

DIY Beeswax Advent taper candle kit

I noticed a giveaway for this being run by another blogger (I can’t remember who but I’ll post the link when I find it). She can only post to the US and Canada though, so for my Australian readers here’s a way to purchase the kit, and it looks like it’s free shipping too.

** UPDATED: That candle kit isn’t available at the link anymore. Here are some others from a company I’ve used for purchasing baptism candles which I really like.

3 Surprising things I learned when I gave up saying ‘I’m busy’ for 40 days

In this article in Verily magazine, author Abigail Murrish asks herself whether her ‘busyness’ is, in fact, laziness. An interesting thought.

Growing virtue, having fun

This is my article in The Catholic Weekly about the Eremeran Study Centre in Sydney and what it offers girls and their parents. It’s a great place, and a great model for parents in other places who would like to organise something similar for their children.

5 Aussie authors share their views on the ‘author platform’

These popular authors write books – and they increasingly need to write for social media as well. Most are happy with this development in the writing world, but not all. One comment that comes up a bit is about what a time-suck social media can be…which reminds me that I have to get off here and out to play with my kids!

Click here for last weeks’ links if you missed them, there’s some great and useful stuff there.

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