God showed up in a mighty way and people were truly refreshed. Many left their burdens at the door and God (and our amazing facilities department) graciously swept up the mess last night as the participants walked out lighter and filled with much joy. Andrew and I were the emcees and that alone is a mighty miracle (more on that later). We had the honor of interacting with so many folks as God's holy spirit moved and breathed fresh hope into their hearts. One lady had adopted a sibling set of 4 kids and had not taken a break for four years. Another gal said she was so burned out and exhausted that she had no intention of going to the conference. However, just three days before, she received a call from CPS and they notified her that all charges were unfounded and they were dropping the case. She instantly knew she had to come to the conference and with tears streaming down her face, she told us just how timely this conference was. Still another, and this story especially makes me smile, said she was burned out, listening to rock and roll on the way to the conference, and after the first night was singing praises to our king through Friday night and into the next morning. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing like a little rock and roll to get ya pumped up sometimes (do people even say rock and roll anymore? I must be showing my age), but she was describing a heart condition that we can all relate to. When we mistakenly place our hope and trust in our circumstances, we become bitter, burned out, and hopeless until God disrupts our pity party and puts us back on the right track, running after Him with wreckless abandon. I know because I have been there SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many times.
But what was the greatest miracle of all was this. Getting back to the whole emcee thing... I had fun! Yes, Michele with the crooked smile who hates being up infront of people. I had fun. I had so much fun I was giddy throughout the conference. People probably thought I was the biggest dork alive, acting like a 12 year old child up on stage. (Well, that's mostly normal but I was even more dorky than usual!) I should have put my hair in pigtails to match the jumping up and down and squeals that seemed to escape my mouth so often. I used to at least try to be so polished and mature on the rare occasion that I had to speak publicly but not this time. I lost all hope of being polished at 6:31pm when we walked up to welcome everyone to Refresh. When worshiping, I'd forget that I was heading up on stage in just a few minutes. That NEVER happens. Believe me. When they say that one of the greatest events that causes stress is speaking in public, that would be true in my case. I'd rather get a root canal. If you don't believe me, ask my hubby. He's watched me fret, cry, and battle great anxiety before various events in the past. But this one was different. God's spirit was so alive in that room and His hand was so obviously leading us. His words were always on our lips. It was FUN to be a part of something so wonderful, so hilarious, and so moving.
God took burdens away this weekend. Burdens that we, foster and adoptive parents carry around day in and day out, were removed. Burdens of fear, worry, and despair were removed. Burdens of failure, shame, and condemnation were removed. As we all collectively gathered together, our joy was made complete and our hope was set back on a firm foundation. It was so incredible and so difficult to explain to those who were not there. I am blessed beyond measure to have been a part of something so much bigger than our little planning team of 8.
What joy, what joy for those whose hope is in the name of the Lord. What peace, what peace for those whose confidence is Him alone. Hallelujah!
