an idea whose time has come.

the last two work weeks have taken me to dallas, okc, and nashville. it's been a nice break from my working from home routine, but definitely a whirlwind. 

my favorite part of the last two weeks has been that my worlds have completely collided. at almost all of these different events, i've rotated between my buckner hat, my prov road hat, and my cara jane hat (is that a thing?). for example, a couple thursdays ago, i went to a foster care forum in okc where i learned a ton about foster care in general for my job, but also learned how our church can be a part of what God is doing through his people in oklahoma to care for kids that need families.

it was incredible to see government officials, CEOs, foster care agencies, community members, and church leaders come together to discuss the future of foster care in oklahoma. if you're at all interested in this conversation, i highly recommend following @BenNockels and @111Project and reading more about the #fosterforum on twitter. they closed the day with a quote i thought could not have been more appropriate:

"There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come." -- Victor Hugo

then, last week i attended the christian alliance for orphan's annual summit conference in nashville. if you've never heard of it, it's definitely a conference you should look into if you're at all interested in orphan care. they had a whole slew of incredible speakers and workshop leaders, from david platt to steven curtis chapman to u.s. congresswomen to foster parents and adoptees. catch up on #summit9 on twitter.

i was there for work, but again, i took away a lot of helpful information for our church, too. our church isn't very big at all, but we already have several couples pursuing or interested in pursuing foster care and/or adoption -- like 10 or 12 out of our close to 60 people! we're trying to figure out what it looks like to love these couples well and support them on their journey.

at some point between all the workshops and networking and coffee breaks and exhibit hall-ing at the conference last week, i stopped long enough for the realization to hit me square between the eyeballs -- i get paid to do something i am crazy passionate about, and that is so incredibly rare. i was suddenly filled with an immense amount of gratitude. all i could do in the next session was cry my little eyes out during worship. i was just so overwhelmed by the fact that i was in a room with 3000 people whose hearts burst for the fatherless, and all of us were singing together lines like, "the fatherless find their rest at the sound of your great name"... and as if that wasn't unbelievable enough, i was getting paid to be there. it's my job to get these passionate people started on their journey of foster care or adoption. what a GIFT!

even better than all of that, i was reminded countless times through these events over the last two weeks of the reason why we do what we do and care about what we care about ("we" meaning the bristers, buckner, prov road, christians...). david platt said it this way at summit:

we advocate for the fatherless because we understand that while we were still sinners, outsiders, orphans, christ died for us and made a way for us to be adopted into his family. we care about foster care and adoption because we realize we ourselves were once chosen, rescued, brought in, and called his own. it's the most beautiful story of unconditional love and inexplicable grace -- and to think he calls us to demonstrate and declare this story to the world! 

"My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us -- perfect love! ... First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first."

-- 1 John 4:11-12, 19