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