Sunday, July 11, 2010

Saturday at the Baby Conference

This morning we attended a session on adoption and Haiti. Several families spoke about their experiences with adopiton. It was a very moving part of the conference for me personally. I had to wipe a few tears as David Birdy and Doug Phillips shared about Rescue Haiti's Children. Afterwards I went up to speak with David Birdy. My desire was to see if he had any ideas on how to get our girls home, as he has just brought three girls home from Haiti. Sadly his circumstances were/are very different than ours. He was not able to offer any help but did get a group of people together to pray over me that the Lord would be with Hannah and Hosanna and bring them home safely and quickly.

After the morning session we spent quite a while talking with other families about adoption. I had the priviledge of encouraging other families who are just thinking about caring for orphans in a new way. We then decided to walk into town and grab an early lunch. While at lunch we met another family and visited with them for some time. Then it was back to the convention center for a 1:30 session.

We chose to hear Geoff Botkin and family at 1:30. Geoff spoke on "How to Practice Biblical Discipline in the Home". This session was a highlight for Andrew and I. Not only did Geof do a great job at laying out the Biblical reasons for discipline, his children spoke of how discipline looked in their home. All seven children rose up and blessed Mrs. Botkin for the job she has done in raising and disciplining them! Very convicting. Also a great look at why so many of the so called Christian methods of discipline are not Biblical.

At 4:00 Doug Phillips and many of the speakers from the week offered a few closing comments. There was also a time of testimony given for fathers. Many testified to God's grace in their lives. Several had vasectomy reversals, many had learned the Biblical view on the family. We were all sad that the conference had to come to an end.

Our family stayed around for hours visiting with many old and new friends. We have been invited to many homes...Texas, SOuth Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana...We will be attending another conference in San Antonio in October, at which time we will reconnect with many of these families.

Dinner was wonderful. We went to the Mexican Restaurant we visited yesterday. The waiter we had tonight came to our table to tell us in ten years he has never waited on a nicer family with more respectful children. As we were leaving at 9:30 group of Vision Forum employees came in to eat.

Well it is now midnight again...good news is we don't have to be at the convention center early. We are attending a church service for all the are still in town at 10:30 tomorrow morning. After church we will do a little sightseeing and relax. By the way San Antonio has good Mexican food but the city is not a great place to be. We were walking to our vehicle tonight after dinner and the children watched a drug deal happen, as well as the dress or lack there of is much worse than in Georgia. Well off to bed!

Friday at the Baby Conference

Today was a wonderful day.

Our first session was at 8:30 am. Doug Phillips lead a panel of couples who all had large families in a question and ansrew time. THe Allens, Valentis, Carpenters, Chanceys, Botkins and Phillips spoke about what life looks like in their homes on a day to day basis .

OUr second session was by Geoff Botkin. Geoff spoke on the 50 year anniversary of the pill. He shared the history of Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood and how the pill has killed millions of babies over the past 50 years.

At 11:30 the girls and I went to a luncheon/tea with Michelle Duggar. Michelle spoke about her family, her new little daughter Josie, as well as many practical thoughts on raising children.

At lunch the girls and I sat with some old friends and many new ones. After lunch we walked down the Riverwalk to find the boys eating at Subway.

Andrew spent the afternoon chatting with men from around the country. He and the children rested for awhile, walked through the vending hall to speak with many vendors like Heritage Fund, a new legal organization designed to help families in a time of legal battle. They also spoke with Hope for Orphans, Samaritian Ministries, and more.

Rebekah and I went to hear Beall Phillips interview Michelle Duggar. It was very enjoyable. Michelle is such a Godly example to mothers! I was sooo encouraged.

Around 4:00 pm our whole family went to a session on BioMedical Ethics. Wow was that challenging. Do you know what your church teaches and believes about In Vitro, surigacy, H+, artificial wombs? Many of the new technologies are downright scary. Andrew and I are still working through what we believe the Bible teaches in some of these areas. Thankfully we have Godly men who are thinking through them with us to encourage us.

For dinner we ate at a local Mexican Restaurant located on the Riverwalk. Our table was on the water. We ate too much chips, salsa and cheese dip but oh was it good!

After dinner we headed back to the convention center for our evening session. The session was incredible. Michelle Duggar received an award for 2010 Mother of the Year. Michelle is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. She is humble, gentle and incredibly wise. The Lord has greatly blessed Jim Bob and Michelle with a family that speaks volumes about what they believe the Bible proclaims about children.

We stayed around talking at the convention center with some friends of ours that live in San Antonio. We are planning to visit at their home in October. On the way back to our KOA we stopped to pick up ice at around midnight at a gas station in yucky town.There were three stray dogs living in the parking lot of this gas station that just ate the trash.