Indiana/Florida trip, part 5

Okay, the actual conference time:

Kathy led some singing, with her little helper.

Donna-Jean led everything else.

Her closing message about Charlotte Mason in hard times, pretty much took everything in my heart and brought it together with tons of encouragement. Homeschooling, orphans, Charlotte Mason, and Karyn Purvis all in one? Wow.

Our 15-year NTBI reunion

Misty and I went to Bible school together and then later reconnected online as moms. She came to the retreat with her darling five-month-old twins.

See? Darling!

Karen spoke on "Believe in mind."

She went from Anna Karenina (of course) to Charlotte Mason (of course) and talked about how minds are living and need real spiritual food. I was holding a sweet baby, so I didn't take notes. It was all good. Read her book.

It was all at a beautiful old church.

I'm afraid they didn't appreciate Karen's talk.

Mingling time

Pretty things

Cindy Rollins spoke Saturday morning.

I had to steal this photo from Amy. I'm in it, so you know I didn't take it. Cindy's talk was so good! When she quit blogging, I had just found her blog, and I felt like it was a tragedy not to be able to read what she wrote anymore. Hearing her in person was even better, though. Again, I didn't take notes, but I'll be listening to the recording again, I know. I don't remember if I had heard about her Morning Time before we started our Morning School or not, but that "liturgy" of hers has definitely inspired me when I have read about it. She talked about just doing a little at a time and building those beautiful habits.

Lunch music

My breakout session on foreign languages
(Photo taken by Melisa)

Sweetheart

This is a sweet girl who really ministered to my heart. In a lot of ways she is like the kids I work with at the orphanage, but there's a night and day difference, because she has grown up in a loving family. I grabbed this photo when she got my orphanage photo album out to look at her "friends."

And I'm still going. All this was really special for me. If you're tired of it, you don't have to read....

So good to be back

Beautiful flowers at the orphanage

Because I didn't go on the Saturday before my trip, it was almost a month since I had been to the orphanage. I've missed those kids! Today Raia went with me, and when we got there, the nurse wouldn't let me take the two groups of big kids out. But, since Raia can't come in (yet), I couldn't just stay inside the whole time. So, I begged for little K., and got permission to take her outside alone. I sat with my usual groups inside for a few minutes, heard how they're doing, and gave them the snacks I had brought.

Then I went outside with just one sweet little girl to spoil! Her group is so bed-bound that they don't even have hats and shoes, but I finally remembered to take Bogdan's sandals and Asya's hat for her to borrow. So, she could explore the playground on her own and be out in the sun more than I can usually allow. We wore her out; I think she's probably taking a good nap now. I don't think I've seen her ready to stop moving before, but today, towards the end of our two hours, she just wanted to sit in my lap and snuggle. Very sweet.

Yes, this is the little girl who is getting a family very soon. Please pray for them as they get ready and travel.

Also, there's a new little girl in her group. I just got to meet her today. Maybe I can start spending more time with her, after K. leaves? Of course, I love and hold and feed all of them, but K. was the only who really noticed my presence much at all. I was kind of sad before I got there today, thinking how much I would miss K. after she's gone. (Although I am THRILLED that she'll have a family to love her. Nothing tops that!) And then this new little one also responded when I walked in today, and S. gave me a big smile, and V. played her game of repeating sounds with me, and N. reached out and grabbed my face. It was a good day.

Indiana/Florida trip, part 4

And now we're getting closer to the actual event! A few more photos of the flowers:

Last minute planning

Ready!

Here they come!

Lots of happy screaming and hugging

"The Bruce hug," reenacted

Many of these ladies "knew" each other through the internet for years, and for many it was their first time to meet in person. The excitement was palpable. We feel like old friends.

In my next post, I'll get to the actual conference part....

Answered prayer

I have noticed some great answers to prayer recently, and I wanted to share them.

Remember that I asked for prayer for a family for "little K."? Her soon-to-be-mom just told me that the very day I posted that was the day they committed to adopting her! They will be coming next week to start the adoption process for her and a sister for her, so please cover them in prayer now.

I have often asked for prayer for the amazing family I got to know back in the spring when they were adopting three more children here. (One was "mine." In other words, she was from "my" orphanage.) After they got home, the mom was very seriously injured and has been in the hospital for large chunks of time. They have eight children, seven of whom have special needs. They needed their mama, and she needs her health! And now--finally--it looks like she's starting to get better. Praise God! He is using their trials to turn other people's hearts to adoption and special needs, too. They still need prayer, of course. There's still a long road to recovery, but I'm encouraged even just to be hearing her "voice" again online and to know that she's able to be with her little ones now.

"My" sweetie recently

Indiana/Florida trip, part 3

When Jeanne and I were out walking, we found some lovely Monarch caterpillars. I went back the next day and took photos of them.

Also, the group gathered at the house continued to grow, and many of us went on a nature walk to see the creek and collect more flowers.

Planning and preparation continued:

Amy started signing her first books. (See Discover Reading, coming soon.)

On Friday Jeanne and I went to the church early to work on flowers and other preparations. This was the masterpiece for the main room:

More later....

Meanwhile

I still have tons to share about my trip, but here are a few home photos. This is what Will and his helpers did while I was gone:

They got rid of the mud by covering it with gravel, got a new table, added a hanging plant (as advised by neighbor babushka), and made our whole outdoor eating area beautiful! I should have posed the flowers they bought for me out there, too: a huge bouquet of lilies.

Gifts from grandparents

When that special blanket was washed

Indiana/Florida trip, part 2

[Uploading all these photos is pretty interesting when our "internet thingie" wants to be kept in the freezer. We're trying to appease it with bowls of ice and the fan, but it's not convinced. It's not even hot here today.]

I don't have any photos from my travel time, because I checked the camera right through to Chicago in my suitcase. But I had a really nice, easy trip, and I did wish that I could have taken photos in Austria. I didn't go into the city of Vienna, since I was by myself, and we did that last time. Instead, I got a hotel room one stop further out on the train. It was actually pretty fun to figure that out by myself. First there was a train worker on the platform, who asked me, "Do you speak English or Deutsch?" and then proceeded to tell me in perfect English the exact opposite of what I needed. I followed his directions, but then saw my train back on the other platform where I had been standing and ran up, over, down to jump on it just in time. A nice Austrian babushka--the only person on the train!--helped me to figure out that I was in the right place, going the right direction. Then I had a nice walk to my hotel. Except that I almost melted; it was so hot that day! I wanted to take pictures of the perfectly clean, empty streets of that Austrian village, where butterfly bushes were growing higher than the houses.

I continued on to Chicago the next morning, marvelled at the automated customs and immigration machines (fingerprints and photos and all in one), finally connected with my friends and my ride, and made it to Indiana farm country, where we were met by...

A full, double rainbow...

A beautiful sunset...

A massive dog...

...and the most amazing hospitality. The family hosting was going through a medical crisis, but they met the first three of us, introduced us to their freezers (yes, multiple, and yes, named), showed us the beds and bedding, and let us get ready to meet the rest of the 15-ish guests who would be arriving, while they headed back to the hospital.

That dog again

The next day we worked on planning details and went for a walk to get sample bouquets of wildflowers.

Jeanne crossing the bridge

The creek

A first handful

A planning meeting, with The Dog taking part

The next day more people arrived, including these two little ones from Texas and Peru:

To be continued....

Indiana/Florida trip, part 1

As I'm going back over my wonderful trip in my mind, I think I'll start with a list of links to places where other people have posted photos and reviews of the retreat in Indiana for your viewing and reading pleasure:
Megan (and her pic of The Dog)
Jen
Melisa
Anne (click on "Older Post" from there and keep going through her series)
MacKenzie
Jeanne: more, decor, driving!
Diana: part 2
Lisa
Anna: another post
Karen Ann
"North Laurel"
I will add more here later, as I re-find the links, and if I see more.

AO Advisory and Auxiliary
(photo stolen from Kathy)

Oh, and you have to listen to this! Lynn is the one in the photo Amy is holding above. We missed her so much.

Home again, home again

That was a long trip! Adding an extra flight to the beginning really made it seem longer, but it was still quite easy, since I was by myself. I'm just exhausted now, after all of it. Of course, I have been greeted very enthusiastically here at home, and I'm loving being back with my family. Bogdan says that he missed me "this much" and holds up all ten fingers. That's about how I feel, too.

Here's a pretty photo that Mom took at the open house they had for me in Florida: