My friend Amber was so sweet. She brought something with her to the Connecting While Correcting conference–a birthday card with something jingly in it.

Last night, when registration opened for Together Called and my phone was binging and my inbox ringing, Amber texted a “happy birthday” to me in the midst of all the registration rush. I texted back that I’d finally open her card. She couldn’t believe I had waited (and was probably wondering why I hadn’t thanked her for it). All week, I have seen it staring at me on my kitchen counter. I had waited because I had no plans for today besides a trip to the grocery store and thought it might make the day a little less boring.

Silly me.

In between the hundreds of Facebook notifications of people saying happy birthday (social media has even changed how we do birthdays), the Together Called registrations just kept coming. And, at 4pm today, 16 hours after we opened registration, every spot was taken. And, those spots represent families from 12 states.

Wow.

In all the excitement, I didn’t forget my sweet gift from Amber. I love it. A super cute necklace from Urban Aviary, one of Together Called’s sponsors. I think it’s officially my Together Called necklace now because every conference needs an official piece of jewelry, right?

What a day after all, a great, happy day.

There has been a high bar set for future birthdays. Maybe midnight on the night of October 3rd will have to be next year’s open registration date too.

Last spring, about 10 women gathered to talk about how a need could be met. These women, all adoptive mothers, knew first hand that there are unique challenges adoptive families face, challenges that can bring couples to their knees. We asked how we could encourage these parents in and around the Philadelphia area, offer them training, support, and community as they press on to answer God’s call in their lives.

And, Together Called was born.

I remember the night I came home from that get together when we stayed so long at a cafe that they had to kick us out. I shared the idea of a marriage retreat for adoptive parents with him and told him I thought it fit perfectly with what we were already doing. It took a little bit of convincing that night. But, since then, we’ve had confirmation after confirmation that this is how we should be serving.

On February 22nd-24th, 2013, up to 50 couples are going to gather in Lancaster County, PA at the Inn at Leola Village. We’ll hear from Nate and Sara Hagerty, faithful servants and adoptive parents of 4 children from Uganda and Ethiopia, who will be flying in from far away to bless us. We’ll have a couple opportunities to hear from a few other speakers with expertise in navigating the challenges in adoptive families–Mark and I will be sharing about connecting with your children and your spouse as you correct your children.

Since last spring, we have worked hard to share the vision and get folks on board with it because we wanted to surprise these couples with some red carpet treatment but keep the cost as absolutely low as possible. And, you know what? It wasn’t a hard sell.

Here are some of the folks who have made an investment in this retreat so that we can invest in adoptive families fully.

The support of these folks and a few others not shown has been overwhelming. We are so pumped. 

Last night, before we finally turned out the lights, Mark said to me simply, “I’m so glad we decided to do this retreat.”

Registration opens at 11:59pm tonight (or as close to at that moment as we can get). Praying that I can say tomorrow that the confirmation has continued.

It’s Monday. And, I’ve been talking a lot today. Some vanilla chai spiced caffeinated coffee will do that to me, a decaf girl. But, I needed it because I think I got a total of 10 hours of sleep this weekend. My body is tired; but my heart is not (and that’s not because of the brew).

The Connecting While Correcting conference Saturday was more energizing than a grande latte. Nearly 100 people came, giving up basically a full Saturday, investing in their families, eager to learn. Cheryl Nitz gave the whys and the hows of connecting with our kids while handling difficult behavior so clearly. I saw a couple moms with a pen in one hand and a highlighter in another quickly writing and highlighting, repeat, repeat (makes a Type A overthinker like me proud).

Mark and I and some other trained folks led small groups of parents so they could hash through the material in a deeper way and brainstorm applying it to some real life situations. The rooms were filled with parents being vulnerable with the struggles and open to hearing suggestions with teachable spirits. We could have spent a few more hours in those groups.

“I will come to anything you guys offer. I mean that. Anything.” That’s what one woman told me at the end of the day. She asked me for more resources and scribbled down book names on her notes. I suggested the Empowered to Connect website to her and told her that it would be really helpful but did let her know it has a faith component, not knowing what she’d be comfortable with. She told me, “I don’t come from any faith background but if what you all talked about today is there, I’m all for it.”

What better encouragement could we receive? Clear confirmation that what has brought Mark and I to our Starbucks travel mugs of caffeinated beverages this morning is right.

This conference may be over, but we trust that it’s impact will be long lasting. We have just enough time now to catch our breath.

Registration for Together Called, our faith-based marriage retreat for adoptive couples in February, will open at 11:59pm Wednesday night.

Any of ya’ll feel like taking a road trip to Lancaster County, PA? I’m rubbing my hands together in anticipation already.