Debriefing from Created for Care

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to join 450 other adoptive mamas at a yearly retreat called Created for Care. The retreat was held at Lake Lanier Lodge just outside of Atlanta and my, oh my, it was beautiful. The whole resort was just amazing. I told Trey that we're going to take a trip there on our next anniversary.

 

I drove down to the retreat with two of my close friends, Chelsie and Lacie. We met our roommate, Tonya there. Tonya runs the Give1Save1 Asia page and we've been facebook friends for quite some time. It was super cool meeting women who I only knew through the Internet and now we're real life friends. :) Technology still surprises me.

Any who, the weekend was filled with breakout sessions, worship, fellowship, lectures, learning and lots of food. I got to choose 3 sessions based on my preference. The first one I went to was all about having a big family. The two women who led the session had 15 children between the two of them. They talked about organization with a big family, how to make each child feel special and one mom shared her experiences with homeschooling a large family. I really enjoyed hearing their stories and their hearts for their kids. I don't know that we will ever have that many children, but at times I can imagine us having 5 or more children.

The other sessions I went to were The Connected Mom and Foster Care in the US. The Connected Mom was very refreshing! It gave me a new perspective on my relationship with my heavenly father. It reminded me that he established that connection for me and no matter what I do or don't do it will never weaken or strengthen that connection. It is always there. It relieved a lot of pressure and guilt about having a specific quiet time everyday. Because to be honest with 3 little people it is hard to do it everyday. Instead I was encouraged to just enjoy my time with Him throughout my day, in prayer and constant conversation with Him. The Foster Care class was good too. It really encouraged me to love not only on the children, but also on the social workers. They have such a hard workload and even though we may not always feel they are doing whats best for specific children, we need to show them grace and support. I was also so impressed at the way others in the group had gotten their churches involved in foster care. Where the church was a support for the foster care system by offering to host informational foster classes for their congregation, praying for the children and workers and also by providing necessary supplies to children who were coming into the system with nothing. It gave me a lot to think about and I can only hope to see SC move toward those goals as well.

My absolute favorite thing of the weekend was Date with God. I really don't know how to explain it other than that God met me there in that room. The Date with God room was composed of several different stations where you could do different actions. They had a blessing station where you could receive a prayer blessing, a prayer request wall, a Bible reading station, a tent with blankets and pillows to rest and listen to Him speak to you, and several others. The station I connected most with was the world map station. They had maps on the wall and a large map on the floor. The idea was to come and pray over your country and your childs country. I sat on the floor right in front of Congo. As I began praying for Cora's country I got very emotional. I prayed for our agency, our lawyer, the country officials, hope for the country, the children of Congo and their futures. After several minutes of praying I began praying specifically for Cora. I don't know how to explain it, but it's as if the whole room melted away and I was holding my baby girl. I was holding and loving Cora as the Lord was holding and loving me. I still can't talk about this without crying. It was the most beautiful, intimate experience I've ever had in his presence. My God knew I needed that connection with Him and my little girl. I had been feeling so disconnected from Cora since our adoption was put on hold and this time together gave me a new hope and urgency to pray her home.

The weekend was beyond everything I had expected. There is just something amazing about being together with 450 other moms who share your heart for the orphan. I am already counting down until next year!