This time last year, we thought we were in trouble. The response to The Sparrow Fund’s first Together Called conference was overwhelming. We weren’t sure if we could make that significant of an impact again. Now, here we are, a few days out from Together Called 2014, realizing we weren’t in trouble at all. We were just along for the ride, a part of a movement God is directing to care for families and marriages.

Thanks for your amazing hearts and the prayers and energy you poured into making the weekend a beautiful reflection of God’s care and comfort for us. It was truly like falling into the safest, warmest, most comfortable pillow. We returned refreshed, relaxed, and excited to pursue Jesus and the adventure He has for us!

Together Called 2014 was so renewing and deeply impacting.

Best conference ever!

I learned that as parents we are colaborers with the God of the universe. But, no matter how right or perfect we parent, we will NEVER be able to to parent Jesus right out of a job. He is the savior of our children, not us.”

We’ve been reading the feedback from attendees as they send it in—70 couples from 10 different states, parents of 235 children. We prayed for them by name, that God would meet each one including us at our very point of need. And, while we haven’t heard back from every single couple, we believe He did just that. Stephen and Beth Templeton of Hope at Home in Atlanta humbly and wisely shared what God has taught them as they have been a part of the “full contact sport of adoptive parenting,” directing us to the only One who can give us what we need. The worship, the fellowship, the time set apart for husbands and wives to spend time alone, and every little goodie donated from Honest Tea to puzzles that look like the world from Crocodile Creek and tons of amazing things for our raffles—God used every part of the weekend to remind us that they we are cared for and to refuel our tanks to keep on keeping on as we follow the One who has called us together.

I’m getting ready for the next big thing for The Sparrow Fund. Tomorrow, I am boarding a plane to lead a team of 12 other folks to go and serve at an orphanage in China (Yeah, I’m pretty much in full-on EEK! mode right now). It’s sorta crazy all that we’ve had going on during this season. But, I know that we are right where God wants us to be—encouraged that He is very much at work and that He has graciously invited us to be a part of that work despite ourselves.

There are a lot of countdowns going on here—Mark will be home when we wake, Together Called is only days away, and my trip to China along with 12 other kindred spirits pretty much immediately follows.

For months, we’ve been raising funds, filling out paperwork, considering schedules and preparing logistically. We’ve been coming together on conference calls so we can work better together as a team, creating t-shirts so we look like a team, and going through material to grow us as we are a part of a bigger team. Some of us have already started packing bags, making sure we squeeze everything in and stay under 40 lbs. which can be a wee bit of a challenge for overthinkers like me. Regardless of who much overthinking we’re doing about those bags, we’re nearly on our way. On February 27th, we’ll be able to put everyone’s faces with the voices we’ve come to recognize from those conferences calls and get on a China-bound flight together.

Though our team numbers only 13 as we serve at an orphanage in Shaanxi, we know our team is exponentially bigger than that. Each one of the home teams of those 13 members from across the country makes this Visit and Serve team huge! What a comfort it is to know that while we may be the hands there doing the work through His grace, the rest of the body is supporting us and enabling us to be there. It’s so not just the 13 of us.

It’s not too late to be a part of the team. You may not be on that plane with us as we nervously chatter and try to cat nap as we’re able, but we want you there. And, you can be. We’re rallying our home teams to lift us up throughout our travel day February 27th-28th in very specific ways. Can you commit 30 minutes on that day to sit with us and advocate for us from your living room as you sip on a cup of coffee? Can you maybe do a harder thing and set your alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to do the same as we are still flying across the world?

Feel that nudge to join us? Email me. I’ll reply with some info for you and maybe my own form of nervous email chatter. Heading back to my daughter’s home city, meeting her ayis, holding the babies who are there waiting can produce some nervous chatter in me.