We couldn't be more pleased with how everything went.
O.k., there is one thing I'd change. I was a total Picture Slacker and only have this picture to post from the past two days:
But let me back up...
Amy and I picked up Suzanne and Mike at the airport...and then had them all to ourselves for the 1.5 hour ride home. Gwen and Scott drove themselves in from Tennessee. We all (16 of us) spent over 3 hours together last night at Vicki and Billy's house...eating and fellowshipping. At the conference today, Suzanne said that during the time together last night, all of our hearts "melded".
Our LTL Team could not agree more.
In fact, Kami said that after spending the evening with these two couples - hearing their hearts, picking their brains - it would have been worth getting them here, even if we hadn't had the Conference on Saturday!
But we did have the conference....and they came!
Early in the week, we had about 60 registered. When I checked our registration e-mail account last night right before going to bed, we had almost 90.
Reliable sources report that there were 150 people there today. (I didn't do the counting myself...but, boy, I trust Ms. Charlotte!)
And they packed out all the breakout sessions. And they heard Jesus magnified...and glorified. And they heard how to serve Jesus by caring for the least of these (Matt. 25:40)...just as He commanded us. (James 1:27)
Gwen's key idea for today was "Make God bigger...make 'me' smaller." Will we choose "Comfort zone and normal"? Or will we choose obedience...even if it is "Radical...and crazy"?
I had my eyes - that I thought were pretty experienced in the orphan arena - opened to new things. I'm still processing...
Where do we go from here? What do we do with what we've heard? With what we've learned? With what we've seen?
What will we all do with what we now know?
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Prov. 24:12
Yes, still processing.... But such a blessing and a challenge! I loved it! Thank you, Joli and the other girls, for organizing it, and thanks to Gwen and Scott and Suzanne and Mike for coming.
ReplyDeleteI wish so much our family could have been blessed to have been there. It seems we are always trying to cut costs while funding an adoption, in the midst of an adoption trip, or recovering from an adoption. If this is going to continue, I need to figure out how to squeeze things in such as this that would encourage and refresh us!! Sigh! Perhaps it will be a resolution for 2011 to find a way to meet up with the Stretch family!!! So glad the conference was a success! God bless, Jennifer
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