Last year, I was blessed to be asked to speak at the opening year of the 2:1 Blogging Conference.  I really had no idea what to expect since this conference was the first of its kind…a blogging AND homeschooling conference.

I spoke on the homeschooling track, but this next year I will be speaking on the blogging track on the topic of Growing a Blog that Reaches Out.  I am so excited to be sharing how to use your blog as a ministry and find the readers who need your message the most.

Today, I’m going to give you my Top 10 Reasons for attending the 2:1 Conference (because this conference and its mission and message and heart for Christ blew me away!) and then I’ll be linking up on Many Little Blessings’ Top Ten Tuesday.

#1 – I’m speaking.  (Did you really think I was going to put this at the bottom of the list??? )  I’d love to see you there and get to meet you face to face!

#2 – Time spent in fellowship with the Body of believers.  I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be in a room full of bloggers who all have a heart to do the Lord’s will with their blogs and with their lives.

#3 – Time spent with Christian homeschoolers.  Not only did we get to talk blogging, but we got to talk homeschooling for the Lord!

#4 – Late night chats.  I loved just sitting around with other homeschool bloggers discussing all sorts of things from photography to setting up blogs to homeschool projects.  It was such a community feeling.

#5 – Awesome speakers!  No, I’m not talking about myself here, but rather the other speakers I heard last year.  This year’s topics and speakers look just as fabulous!  And the really wonderful part is that every speaker brought their faith front and center.  There was no mincing words.  They were there to honor Christ.

#6 – A great new venue.  While I enjoyed last year’s conference setting, this year’s looks unbelievable!

#7 – You’ll get to meet our newest addition!  This probably should have been #1!   That’s right, this little one will be accompanying me, my husband and several of our children to the conference.

#8 – You’ll learn so much.  I have come to realize blogging is a never-ending learning process.  But the wonderful thing about 2:1 is that no one there expects blogging to become your life.  We are all homeschoolers and know that blogging cannot be #1, so it is approached in a balanced way that is refreshing!

#9 – Everyone is so genuine.  There are no pretensions at 2:1.  There’s no “looking good for others” or pressure to be a certain kind of blogger.  The speakers don’t see themselves as untouchables who aren’t there to mingle and learn, and the attendees aren’t made to feel like they don’t measure up if they don’t have a certain following or make a certain amount of money or blog about certain things.

#10 – The presence of the Lord is there.  I cried.  More than once.  But especially during worship time on Sunday morning.  We were gathered and God was there.  I have no doubt the Lord has His hand on this conference because knowing how Cheryl Pitt (the name behind the conference) had to fight an uphill battle to get this conference off the ground last year when only a handful of people truly understood her vision, I know that no human could have possibly pulled this all together into the conference it proved to be.

You will be blessed!  And I would love to see you at the 2013 2:1 Conference this coming April near Washington, D.C.!