This last weekend Sam and I went to the Refresh Conference at Overlake Church in Redmond, WA. It truly was an amazing time and we both left REFRESHED! God's blessing and protection over the weekend really blew my heart and mind, as God's handprints were evident in every detail. It was SO worth the effort and time that it took to "get there with all of the details of leaving our 7 jewels" so to speak, as EACH ONE OF OUR JEWELS is worth the investment of the weekend ... and we BOTH recommend it to ALL adoptive and foster parents.
It was Sam's first year and he loved it and is already looking forward to next year (me too). Sam was so impressed with the uniqueness of the conference as he thought it really felt like it was designed especially for adoptive (and foster) parents. This uniqueness is such a tremendous GIFT, it's hard to truly put this into words.
This weekend felt like an investment, into our family. Sam and I were able to hear the EXACT same things, giving us so many opportunities to have so many great discussions, helping ensure that we are on the same page. Which all parents know is such a gift and integral when raising kids, for us however as adoptive parents raising kids with trauma it is a necessity. We left renewed with new and old strategies for our jewels - Deborah Grey (and the Yerkovichs) especially being AMAZING. Sam and I are constantly looking for ways to better our parenting, as well as looking for ways to help some of our jewels move forward in their healing. We left feeling better equipped to do this.
It was also an investment into our family because Sam and I had time TOGETHER which we of course loved ;) It was so great to be able to just be able to BE TOGETHER. We also got a lot from Milan and Kay Yerkovich and highly recommend their books. We grew in depth in our marriage just from simply listening to their two breakouts - again what a gift!
We also felt like our Heavenly dad PULLED US CLOSER through the AMAZING worship, and were especially encouraged and affirmed by Pastor Rob Gelina and Pastor Mike Howerton. What an incredibly gift that both of these pastors also are adoptive dads and so GET our hearts, joys, and heart breaks. It's been a long time since I've seen Sam so broken as he was through Pastor Rob's talk.
I did have the privilege of talking at two of the breakouts, which I have to say that I LOVED doing (which keeps surprising me). Although if truth be told it felt like a lot of work leading up to, as free time isn't really something that is part of my day to day. I PRAISE my Father for His protection around my family and my heart in the weeks leading up to Refresh and throughout Refresh. I PRAISE Him for the plans He has for our lives, and how He aligns them with our passions. It was an honor to be able to share some of my heart, I enjoyed it! It was also super special to me to have Sam be able to be there with me, as he's usually home watching our jewels when I'm speaking. He was gracious and thought I did a good job - which meant a lot to me as he truly is one of my favorite people on this planet. I kinda think he rocks. I think we both felt refined with our own TBRI interventions with our jewels just simply through my process of getting ready for my talks ... which honestly makes it worth it ... as our jewels are worth it!
Not really sure why this happened to be my topic, being that I've gone WEEKS without blogging ... as there are so many things that I could have blogged about. Those of you who know me well know that I'm not an exaggerator, all to say Refresh is really a GIFT to all of us adoptive (and foster parents) and I suppose I want to encourage ALL of you adoptive and foster parents out there to make the INVESTMENT ... would LOVE to SEE many more of you at Refresh next year. We've got it penciled in already into our calendar. We are hoping my mom is able to come back as she did such an amazing job with our jewels and as they LOVED having her!
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