Created For Care Retreat!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to experience the most unbelievable weekend I have ever had!  I attended the Created For Care Retreat with at Lake Lanier, Georgia with 252 other adoption Mommas! Ok, so I realize I am a week behind in writing this post! It has been on my to do list all week, just haven't sat down long enough to write! So, some background info on this amazing retreat!! My dear friend Andrea began to feel God calling her sometime last fall, to get all of us girls together who are "adoption blogworld" friends! So many of us are in touch every week through our blogs, phone calls, Facebook, Etc, however most of us have never met!!! Her hope was to have 25-50 girls come down to Atlanta for a weekend Girls Getaway! Where we could just relax and have fun together! Well.... 253 (to be exact!) Mommas signed up for this amazing weekend within the first week she posted the sign up online!! She had to rush home to take the sign up down because so many Moms wanted to come to this retreat!!! All of us Mommas share one common bond, our heart and passion for orphans! Many of the Mommas there were right where we are in the adoption process and others are now home with their babies. Some were even planning to travel around the world to meet their babies as soon as they returned home from the retreat, so awesome!!  It truly felt like a family reunion!! LOTS of hugging, jumping up and down, tears, laughter, and fun!  (:  I was thrilled to meet so many of my friends for the very first time! And to see some of the girls again that I had met last summer while at the All God's Children Conference in Nashville!

Our theme for the weekend was PSALM 84:3

Meeting my sweet friend Melanie for the first time!
She has three boys and an Ethiopian Princess like me!

The "famous" Lucy Lane! It was so much
 fun seeing her again! This little girl's story has been such
an inspiration to me and to so many!! Everyone kept asking
to have there picture made with Lucy Lane... God has already used
this little girl in such a remarkable way! Her life has touched so many!

These three precious little girls were together as infants at Hannah's Hope!
This was like a reunion for them, so much fun!!

Can you tell how excited I was?? These two incredible ladies
have meant so much to me over the past year although we had not
even met until the very moment this picture was taken! Emily's daughter
came from Hannah's Hope, where our daughter will come from. And
Melissa just got home from Uganda with her son, Charles Tucker!

I just fell in love with these two California girls!! They flew all the
way from Santa Barbara, CA for the conference! And they were so
much fun! One of these girls is fourth in line for her baby girl from Hannah's Hope!
The other is awaiting her trip to Uganda to pick up her child!

My sweet friend Jenni, from Mississippi!  So much
fun seeing her again! We met out at the AGCI
picnic in Nashville last summer! Such a precious girl!

My friend Melissa and her new son, Charles Tucker! What a blessing
to get to meet them both! I have been praying for them on their
journey to their son for many months! And what a precious little boy
he is! Just home to his forever family from Uganda!
Just love Melissa, such an amazing girl! Thanks, Melissa, for
bringing Charles Tucker so all those who have been praying for him, could
finally meet him!!!

I don't even know how to express how much these
two girls have meant to me over the past year!
God certainly placed both Andrea and Alison in my life!
I love both of these two ladies dearly!!
Andrea (on the left) was the one who put on this
amazing retreat! I am so thankful that she was
obedient to God's calling to gather all of us women
together who have a passion for a common purpose!
These two inspire me so much!!

Me and my sweet friend, Alison from Mississippi!
So much fun seeing her again! We met in Nashville
this summer and stay in touch pretty often! She
is awaiting her daughter from Ethiopia! This will also
make her fourth child!

So can you tell I love me some Andrea!! 

My roomies for the weekend! The girls on the outside were new friends
from Mississippi! My friend Ellen is beside me in the middle. What a blessing
she has been in my life! We attend the same church and her son
is from Ethiopia! I just LOVE the way God has placed all of these
amazing women in my life!

A cheesy grin from me at dinner Saturday night, someone
was playing with my camera!

Andrea and her precious miracle baby, Isaac!! He is now walking
and they were told he may never sit up!!

My dear friend, Kristy... A.K.A "Lucy Lane's Momma"! She was
speaking to us at the African Hair class, so much fun!

They thought of everything when planning this retreat!! It was just so organized
right down to every single detail!! This was our centerpiece at my table the first night.
We were sat according to which agency and which country we are adopting from!!
There were tables for China, Uganda, America, Ethiopia, etc!! Each table was decorated
according to the country! So neat!

The sparrow was our theme, and it was incorporated into so many details!
This was our centerpiece for dinner Saturday night!

Just a view of half of the room of women at the conference!!!

Beautiful Lake Lanier! A view from the lobby of the hotel
where we stayed!!

My high school friend, Devon, who lives in Atlanta was
so sweet to be our chauffeur for the weekend! She
took us to and from the resort and the airport!
After she picked us up from the resort on Sunday, she
took us to Gladys Knight's restaurant in
downtown Atlanta!  And you really
can order Chicken and Waffles!! But the
cornbread was the best I have ever eaten!!! YUMMY!

I know that was ALOT of pictures, just had so many I wanted to share!! I have pondered all week over how I would describe such a wonderful weekend! I don't think my simple little mind can really grasp the awesomeness of this retreat! How God was in all of the details! How He placed each of us in each others' lives in order to support each other through our adoption journeys!  How He placed this idea, for us all to come together, on Andrea's heart! AND how over 250 women who all have a passion to help the helpless, came together in one room from all over the country, to learn how we can be used by Him to make an impact in the lives of orphans around the world!!! It was truly one of the most unforgettable weekends of my life! This entire journey has just had God's hands all over it... down to even the smallest little details! I have never seen the Hand of God in my life as I have since we said Yes to His calling for our family to adopt one of  His children! I can say first hand, that when you step out in faith and are obedient to His will for your life, He WILL work out all the details and it will be an amazing adventure!! Unlike any life you could have ever planned for yourself!! And we are just at the beginning of this journey!! I cannot wait to continue to watch His plan unfold!