Please Pray with Me

 Dear Support system,

Michael and I are asking for your prayers.  I have created a Prayer Calendar below.  It describes what I will be praying for from February 1st through the 15th.  As many of you know, the Lesotho adoption matching meeting is coming up on the 15th.  This is how I would like to mark off the days until that date.

If you would like join in my 15 day prayer extravaganza ;) , I can text you a daily reminder of what I am praying for on that date, and you can join me.  I can also send you email reminders. (I am being serious) Or, you can print this off and hang it somewhere you will remember.  Please send me an email taramglenn@yahoo.com, or let me know on Facebook if and how you would like to join me.

February 1

Orphans Across the Globe

Today I will lift up orphans in prayer.  Not only the children who have been orphaned, but the adults who still yearn for relationships lost. The Lord is the Father to the fatherless.  I pray that His children feel his love and comfort, healing and mercy.

February 2

For the Adoption Process-The Lesotho Side

Today I pray for our adoption process.  I pray that any red tape be alleviated. That the Lord form those miracles that we do not even know are needed.  I pray for blessings for the government officials, social workers, attorneys, and judges as they work to save the lives of their kingdom's children.

February 3

For the Adoption Process-US Side

Lord, today I will ask that you work through or walk through any bureaucracy that could slow or hinder this process.  That your will be done, and that no miscommunication or confusion will burden this adoption.

February 4

For the Orphanages in Lesotho

From what I have read, the orphanages are flirting with being over-capacity.  Many have sick children that need healing.  Many have staff that need breaks.  Many have directors that need your guidance and strength.  Lord, today, I pray that you bless these organizations.  The workers, the children, the mission.  I pray that the orphanages are able to attend the meeting on the 15th and that they have had the time to examine and organize their thoughts and feelings about the best options for their children.

February 5

For Rosebud's Brother

Wherever this little man may be, I play for your love and comfort to envelope him.  Hug him and let him know that his mom and dad are waiting for him.  I pray that you transform his heart, and prepare him to be grafted into our family.  Lord, please send people into his life now to comfort him and care for him while we are still so far away.

February 6th-Shout out to my sis on her birthday ;)

For Rosebud

I pray that my little girl has a heart big enough to endure the challenges that may lay ahead as we adjust to a new member with new needs and new behaviors.Prepare her heart.  Help her to always feel loved and cared for by us, even when little brother needs more of our attention in the moment.  I know she will be blessed by adoption as I was, but I always know adjustments do not come easily. Thank you for blessing me with a little girl who will not allow herself to be overlooked.

February 7

For Daddy

Today I pray for my sweet husband.  The rock of our relationship, help him find a strengthened foundation in you.  Please give him clarity, wisdom, understanding and compassion to face the challenges of whatever may lay ahead.  Please prepare his heart for Rosebud's brother. Help him to find encouragement and love from me, his friends, his family, and wherever else you can sneak-attack him from.  Thank you for this man.

February 8

For Mommy

The list of things in which I have a deficit are immense.  Lord I pray for peace of mind, patience, mercy, and wisdom.  Help me to grow into the mother both of my children need me to be.  Help me to seek you and your shelter as this journey continues.  I desire to be a mother who is a blessing to her children.  Please shape me, and prepare my heart.

February 9

Our Director

Cheryl has a heart for the children of Africa.  Lord, I play that you bless her dedication to this continent and its people.  I pray that you sustain her and strengthen her.  She has seen many joys and many heartaches.  Please give her the endurance to continue to serve your children.

February 10

Finances

How blessed are we?  I cannot believe the generosity of our friends, family, and church.  Today, I pray that you orchestrate and line up the rest of the money we need for this journey to continue.  For travel expenses, for our time away from work.  For financial needs we cannot know now.  I trust you to provide for us, as you have already shown your faithfulness every step of this way.  Oh how you love us! and how undeserved! Praise your name!

February 11
Families in Canada, the US, the Netherlands, and Sweden

I want to pray for these families.  I feel connected with them as people also called to this country, also called to find their children.  Lord, I pray that this meeting be fruitful for all of these families.  It has been a long wait for most of us.  We have come a long way.  We are excited to see your work in this.

February 12

For Lesotho

Lord,  today I lift up the Kingdom of Lesotho.  I lift up their government, health care system, child welfare system, for their homeless and hungry.  Lord I pray for miracles in the small kingdom.  That your good news be spread, that hope and mercy are known, and that Lesotho becomes a place of healing.  I pray that a day comes that Basotho children do not need to be sent to homes out of their country, but that they can stay with their families and communities.  Until that day, I pray that you continue to send people to Lesotho, to serve them and share your love.

February 13

Hope, Faith and Assurance

I am planning this prayer calendar 15 days in advance, but to know myself is to know that by the 13th, I will be an antsy, stressball mess.  This is my very nature.  I believe in the Lord's power to take away my worry and anxiety and replace it with great assurance, hope, and faith. I pray that I will seek him in my uncertainty. If this adoption process has taught me anything, it is that he LOVES me and will answer this prayer.

February 14

Tomorrow's Meeting

Lesotho's clock is ahead of us, so I want to pray  today for tomorrow's meeting.  I pray for clarity of mind for the government officials, orphanage staff, social workers, and all other attendees.  I pray that the meeting be a productive one.  That all things are in order and that children and families can be blessed in this process.  I pray for the Lord's glory and that His will be done.  I pray that we are matched with our son.

February 15

For the Wait

Today, I pray for all of our families as we wait.  My family will be waiting to find out if our son is in Lesotho or if we need to keep searching somewhere else.  You told me you have a son for me.  I believe you.  Be with us as we wait.  Help us to praise your name, knowing that you have held this even before it was a curiosity in our minds.  You have this. And today, I pray that if I have a hard time giving all of it to you, that you gently remind me who you are.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Your friend,

T

Endurance

I attended a prayer service at my church this week.  What a wonderful way to start the new year!  One of the things that hit me in this prayer service was that this adoption up and down thing is not just happening to me.  We have many members of our church adopting, as well as members of our family.  And while I keep them all in my prayers, I feel that I have had a very self-centric maybe even self-pity for what our family is going through. It was good to be reminded to lift my comrades up in prayer and think about the struggles and joys that they too are experiencing.  I spoke to our agency director today, and she shared with me some facts that I will get to in a moment, but one thing that I mentioned to her is that this journey takes endurance, much more than I had when I started, and really, much more than I have now.  I have run out of gas several times.  The Lord has definitely supplied some serious supernatural patience and perseverance in this journey.  I will have a few sets of prayer requests in this blog, but the first will be for those other families.  That they experience the divine determination, endurance and the supernatural peace that this adoption journey will ask of them.  I do not have permission to post their names, but I am going to list them so that you can pray specifically for them. (If you are mentioned and you want to leave your name in the comments, feel free to do so. I feel like the Lord understands initials though ;) ).

1.  M & L in Missouri
2. J  & J in Oklahoma
3. K & S in Oklahoma
4. The other Lesotho program adopting families: US, Canada, and the Netherlands.  There are many children that need homes.  (I need to mention that there is one additional country that is adopting in Lesotho, but I can't remember which one.  Embarrassed! My apologies to that country)

As I suspected, the date for our matching meeting has been pushed back, to February 15th.  If you think about pregnancy, and how it is that any single human is made, there are about 500 different variables that come in to play.  What a miracle! For anyone who has gone through fertility treatment, you know that a lot of time is committed to thinking about EACH step of this process.  It seems really improbable that any babies even exist!  Adoption is a lot like that.  I had  a supportive conversation with our director today, and she and I were able to talk about some of the variables that happen in the adoption process.  From that conversation and my own wonderings/anxieties, I have come up with a list of prayer requests regarding the miracle of adoption.

1. For the Lesotho side- that whatever (I have no idea) needs to be in place for adoptions to be successful in February falls into place. Pray that all obstacles are removed!
2. For the US side- that communication with the Kingdom of Lesotho is clear and that the process in the States is uncomplicated and easy.
3. For the orphanages- that they are supported and staffed in a way that helps them make informed and compassionate decisions about the children in their care.  What a heavy responsibility to consider moving a child out of their home country!

Above all, please remember to pray for the kiddos!  Those who are institutionally orphaned here in the U.S. and those internationally. That Christ's Love, Peace and Joy! find them in their situations.

Thanks again for visiting my blog!

With love and best regards,

Tara

First post of 2013

Christmas was FANTASTIC.  It was also exhausting... lol.  This was the first year Rosebud really understood what was going on, so it was even more fun than previous years. 

As far as the adoption is concerned, we are still waiting for February 8th, the day Lesotho has scheduled their matching meeting.   Let's talk about this date. These are the thoughts rolling around in my head.... It could be this date, but it could be postponed, as organizing this many seperate entities is challenging.  Even if it is this date, I would not likely know anything about the outcome for quite a while. I have found myself wondering ahead of time what my mental/emotional state will be like on this day.  Fortunately, the eighth falls on a Friday, which is a short work day for me, only five hours.  But that is five hours of focusing on my job when my mind will be trying to think about another continent.   For some reason, my heart has decided to be hopeful about this meeting, which makes me concerned that if the outcome is not a match for this meeting, that I will be quite heartbroken.  The other outcome would mean that we were matched, and WHAT THEN!?!?  My mind can't even fathom that possibility.

The adoption tax credit, as many of you know, was approved BUT it is not refundable.  Which is a bummer for our family, as a refundable tax credit would have made the financial piece of this journey less daunting.  We are still quite a ways away from being full funded for this adoption.  Even so, we are trusting in the Lord.  This is His journey.  (We aren't just grasshoppering this situation.  We are saving and planning.  We just aren't freaking out [yet ;) ] ).

So here are some prayer requests if you feel so inclined :)

1.  For our son and his family.  They they all feel God's peace and love in a time that is likely difficult beyond words. 
2. For our family.  That my husband, Rosebud, and I have hearts that are prepared to love our new member and whatever blessing and challenges that includes.
3. For my heart.  That I lean on the Lord no matter what February 8th means for our family.
4. For the other chidlren and families. That the Lord's will be done in the many families' and children's lives as decisions about their lives are made on this date.
5. For the money.  God has been so faithful in blessing our family throughout this journey.  We have always had just enough for each step.  The home study, the applications, the first installment.  All of it was just there and ready for us. 

If you feel led to contribute, you can continue to do so through Lifesong for Orphans.  It is tax deductible and the money will go directly to our adoption.  Just follow the instructions on this webpage :)

http://bothhandsfoundation.org/michael-and-tara-glenn.aspx

As always, thanks for checking in!

Tara