Hi friends. I’ve been a ghost blogger for awhile, mostly because I don’t organize well and forget when I am supposed to post. Yep. I know. It shouldn’t be this hard and yet….it is. I may just pop in once in awhile (with permission from the KF admin) and I guess I am saying to fellow bloggers reading….please do the same. If we have an inspiration or a word from God to share….can we just post a blog? Even if something is already on the blog for today? I personally think it would be awesome to have updated blogs more than once a day from those in our Katelyn’s Fund group! So here is me going all “rogue elephant”……with a few thoughts late on a Saturday night.
I had the opportunity to go to the Christian Alliance for the Orphan Summit this week. It was a birthday gift from my family. People. Lets. All. Go. It was incredible, and inspiring, and convicting and my cup is again running over. I have had a rather long season of my cup being dry and my bones being tired and God has used this summit to infuse me again with passion and joy and fervor for this work. He didn’t ask me to start a ministry or ask my family to agree to adopt again or to do anything at all, except to be kind to myself. Yes. I paid a lot of money to fly to Orlando, Florida, for the Lord to say, “be kind to yourself and rest” because there is more to come……
I was gone for 3 nights and 4 days. My family survived. Some expected behaviors are emerging and some surprising ones, as well. My resilient family will recover from my absence and if anyone else wants to attend the summit, yours will as well. I promise.
I discovered yesterday that I had lost my water bottle that was one of the gifts included in the summit package. I looked for it but it was gone. I was disappointed. Another perk that is included in the registration fee if you choose to purchase it, is a Summit t-shirt. I purchased one. Today as I packed up to leave Orlando, Florida, I wore my new t-shirt and felt so great in it, at the hotel, the airports, Hobby Lobby……quietly sharing that we defend the fatherless…….
Tonight, bedtime was a time where the kids all showed vulnerable sides, after being brave for the past few days. My littlest kids were the most raw, having managed without mama for awhile. I got the bedtime drinks, and weighted blanket and essential oils ready to do the things that seem to help us here…..and as I carried my oil diffuser to my bedroom to help my child settle in I noticed the diffuser had tipped and spilled essential oil on my new CAFO shirt.
I’m soaking my shirt, that I was so proud to wear and own today….hoping it is not ruined. I lost the water bottle and maybe the shirt as well if the oily stain won’t come out……but I guess tonight I am being taught its not about my souvenirs, or even my memories of this inspirational event. It’s about my kids, and the kids of the world. If I don’t move forward with the water bottle or the t-shirt, I still move forward in the work. Stuff doesn’t equal people. It never has, it never will. If you happen to see me in a dark green CAFO 2016 t-shirt you will know it all turned out ok. If not, you will understand and agree that it is just stuff. The people represented by the stuff are tucked peacefully into bed and feel settled and safe and that is ultimately what matters most.
