January 31, 2013

created for care.

Created for Care.


why yes I am.  Especially as a momma.  We need care, we need to be refreshed + renewed.  We need time away from the every day life to rest.  We need to hear from God!  and for me, when I'm away, undistracted, and still... I can really hear God.

Last year, this adoptive momma retreat blew me away.  and usually experiences the first time set the bar  for greatness + the second and third time don't measure up.  Not this time!  It blew me away again.  There is just something about getting in a room with 450+ mommas that all have a heart for adoption....think about that.  450 women from all over the country!  God is for sure moving in the hearts of families all over our great nation and it's amazing to put so many of us in the same room for the weekend.

I have much left to process, and many a blog posts to come about what the good Lord spoke to me, but for now I wanted to write about my overal expiernce and share some pics of the beautiful girls I got to spend the weekend with!


first let me say, that you KNOW you are at a retreat with mommas when you all collectively get really excited about renting a MINI VAN.  (sisters, don't hate).  We had a good laugh about that.
But it was just amazing how God ordained the four of us to be together.  Lauren (on the right) was my roomie last year!  We met for the first time "in real life" as roommates and THEN god was so faithful to fulfill a dream to be TOGETHER in Ethiopia this summer!  (I got to take pics of her + her hubby meeting their daughter, Arsema!)  she has a beautiful story + writes it so beautifully on her blog.

Tara (middle) and I have been email/phone friends for about a year and a half and JUST met in real life this weekend!  she is a jewel of a friend with a similar story to mine and I am SO GLAD we got to spend so much time together this weekend talking, praying, crying, laughing and remembering god's faithfulness!  Just this time last year neither of us thought we were anywhere CLOSE to know who are children are & now we both have them all home!

Shelby (left) is a doll.  she's a baylor girl too (her & tara were roomies!) and we quickly realized we had a class together back in the day.  you just never know when you are going to meet a friend-for-life and that's exactly what SHE is.  I love her!


We made it to Lake Lanier (thanks to my mad driving skills ;) and had fun eating dinner & staying up late talking.  we all (minus Lauren) slept until 10:30 the next morning!!!  tired mommas ;)  it was so nice.  my sweet husband surprised me with a gift for a MASSAGE!  from camp + asher ;)  started the weekend off right!

I could really go on, but I'll spare you every detail of the weekend.  



lets just say there were late nights, tears, lots of coffee, shopping, worship, new friendship, teaching, praying, laughing, healing and dreaming. 


and lots of friends.  old friends.  new friends.  blog friends.  instagram friends.  life long friends. real life friends. africa friends. airplane friends. 





seriously.  so much to process and take time to write.  and I can't wait to share what I learned + share more of my heart.  It was healed more than a little bit this weekend.  God is good.  

One of the songs we sang that captured my heart, is "I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind, the God of angel armies is always by my side.  the one who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine!" (Whom shall I fear by Chris Tomlin)  it's become somewhat of an anthem. 

If god is for us, who can be against us? 


27 comments:

  1. It was a truly amazing weekend!!!!!! I can't wait to room with you again next year!!! :D LOVE YOU!!!!

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  2. Such an incredible weekend! I loved meeting you "in real life!" Oh, that song has been my anthem on this journey and I was SO glad we all were able to sing it together this weekend. Many tears were shed.. I'm still processing it all too. So much healing and learning and connecting in one weekend! Such a blessing!

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    1. yes loved it! and that song...oh it's beautiful. healing, learning, connecting...amen! wish we were there today!

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  3. Oh what an amazing weekend! I so enjoyed living vicariously through everyone's instagrams since I couldn't make it back this year! Hopefully I'll have the chance to meet you next year!

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    1. it was amazing! YES next year! i'm a jan girl forever now!

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  4. Ugh. Killing me that I had to miss it. BUT, I am SO GLAD God used this time to pour His blessings on you! :)

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  5. I'm headed to the March retreat. I'm a bit nervous, because I feel so new to the adoptive world. Aahhh...I keep telling myself it will be great!

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    1. There's a march retreat? Can you email info to reandrews6@gmail.com?

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  6. Such an awesome weekend! The hightlight of my year the past three years! So much fun seeing you again, Wynn! What a precious girl you are!!!

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  7. p.s What type of camera do you have? It takes the best pictures! (:

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    1. you are so cute! i loved getting to see you again! i have a nikon d700 :) not always the camera but the photographer :) :)

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  8. Amen to that song! It was my anthem in the weeks leading to my daughter's birth because birthing her would also mean saying goodbye. Praise the Lord that He hems us in behind and before.

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    1. amen! so sorry :( praise him for being with us always!

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  9. Love seeing you all together! I'm so glad you had a refreshing, encouraging weekend. I'm maybe crying just thinking about what you all experienced and what God is doing through your families!

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  10. Wow! So amazing the relationships God weaves - love it!!!
    Your blog helps feed my soul!!!
    Thank you -and many many blessings

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  12. Loved meeting you Wynne! That song was my favorite too; such beautiful and true words.

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    1. LOVED meeting you too. seriously loved! praying for you!

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  13. I'm going in march and can hardly stand the wait!!!

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  14. Wynne! Small world... when I saw this post and I immediately recognized Tara... she and I went to middle school together In Tulsa, OK! Crazy! Her best friend was a girl named Lauren Stone who I played tennis with so I got to know Tara through her and through school of course too! I was JUST thinking about her the other day after meeting a girl at church who's last name is the same as Tara's maiden name (Walthall, but I don't remember how she spelled it)... funny the way things like that trigger memories! So neat that you and Tara connected and also neat to know whatever came of her... what a special "club" she is in... glad to hear she has her babies home with her too!! Okay long post over now... just had to say something... love this small world we live in! :)

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    1. what a crazy small world!!!! oklahoma is as small as texas it seems ;)

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  15. glad you had a great trip - how could you not with all those amazing women!

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thanks for the love!
wynne.elder@gmail.com