how you can support our adoption {part 2: PRAYER!}

Wow! I'm not sure where to start with this one. There are so many requests we could share, so I know this list won't be exhaustive, but here are some things we're praying for...

For our family

• We know all of our lives are already changing and will change in a big and beautiful way this summer. As we prepared, we're praying
• that our marriage will be strengthened through this
• that our children will understand God's love in new ways
• that Jocelyn - who doesn't usually handle transitions well - will adapt to getting a baby sister, starting kindergarten, and going to summer day camp for the first time, all in one summer
• that Robbie - who is a momma's boy and fills the role of resident cuddler in our house - will adjust well to no longer being the baby of the family
• that Zoe Amanda will be loved and cared for well in Taiwan until we can bring her home and that her transition - as everything about her life will change when she comes home - goes as smoothly as possible
• that all of us - in our immediate and extended families - will be changed for the better in all this

For the logistics of the adoption

• I'll share more later this week about the steps along the way, but here are the some of the key ways we're praying:
• that God would allow our paperwork to be complete and acceptable the first time we submit it
• that the Chinese translations of our documents will be accurate
• that our schedule would fall on the shorter end of the spectrum so Zoe Amanda can join our family and receive needed therapies and treatments as soon as possible (as a note of explanation: lots of steps in the court process in Taiwan have estimates of "2-8 weeks," so we're praying that each of those steps be closer to two weeks instead of eight)
• that breakdowns in communication will be rare and quickly resolved
• that we will remain focused on Christ instead of the sea of paperwork around us
• We're praying that God will provide for the money needed to adopt Zoe Amanda, and we're praying for God's help in trusting Him in this area. (I'll admit I had a bit of a meltdown today about the moola. During lunch. In public. With my poor husband sitting across from me and fielding the "is your wife insane?" glances from the waiter.)

For health and energy

• A lot is happening very quickly, which means we have a constant to-do list... and one that will become more challenging if an illness hits any of the four of us. We're praying for protection from sickness for all of us. 
• Y'all know that the last five years have included the diagnosis of a couple of chronic health conditions for me. While those are under control and treatment right now, the only persistent area of anxiety for me in all this has been a fear that something new - like cancer - would be diagnosed that would make us ineligible to adopt Zoe Amanda. I'm not a big worrier, so I've been caught by surprise by this anxiety. I'm clinging to prayer and the truths of Philippians 4:6-8. 
• Our kids - who used to be great sleepers - haven't consistently slept well in the past six months. We're praying that they will rest well (which will also mean that we can rest well)!

For home plans

• We're still putting the house on the market in a couple weeks. We'd love it if our home would sell quickly and a new home that is perfect for our growing family would become available at the same time so that we can sell and buy and move before Zoe comes home. 
• We're praying for endurance through the home-selling process, whatever the length may be. We know it can be long or short; it can be 100 showings or just one; it can have ups and downs or proceed smoothly. While we're praying for the latter in each of those examples, we're also praying that God will sustain us through whatever timeline He has for this process.

For Access Ministry, the special needs ministry we coordinate at our church

• We are just as passionate - if not more - about this area of ministry and will continue in our present roles, but we know there will be a period of time of at least a month that we'll have to step back from that when we're traveling and first have Zoe Amanda home. We're praying for wisdom in handling the logistics to make sure we can serve our family well and others can serve our Access families well during the initial transition period.

If you'd join us in praying for just one of these requests, we'd appreciate it. And please join us in praising God for the journey He has set us on!


(If you'd like to see part one of this post, here you go: "how you can support our adoption {part 1: financial support}. Later this week, I'll post part three about practical support we would appreciate, but I have a couple other posts scheduled between now and then. 

And if you came across this post without reading other recent ones, you might want to start a few posts back, with our adoption announcement post and our thankful post.)