My precious child,

I’ve been praying for you. I don’t know what you will look like. I don’t know what skin color you’ll have. I don’t know what family history you will come from. I don’t even know if you’ve been conceived yet. But I’ve been praying for you.

Darling, the Lord started putting you on my heart five years ago now, shortly before your big sister’s first birthday.  That’s when I first started praying for you. Your daddy and I decided we would start looking for you. But then God put Katy-Grace in Mommy’s belly, and told us to wait. And then a year an a half later, we thought we were suppose to start looking for you again, we recruited prayer warriors, and God put another big brother for you inside Mommy, and He told us to wait.  Then your Daddy went to seminary and we didn’t make enough money to start looking for you, and God told us to wait (and in the meantime you acquired a third older brother…lucky you!).

Yes, we’ve waited and prayed and waited and prayed.  And cheered and helped others on as they ran after their own sweet children.

Now, though, now we’re coming for you. God has started opening the doors, and all that praying, and all that waiting, its like a pent up flood ready to rush towards you. And now, because of all that waiting, you’ve got five older siblings, that wouldn’t have otherwise been there,all  so incredibly excited to welcome you into the family, to love on you, enjoy you, and teach you “all they know.”

Sweetheart, I love you, not because God put you in my womb, but  because He put you in my heart, and I’ve been pregnant with you for these five years passed.

And some brave mamma out there is going to choose to allow you to grow in her belly, unlike so many of her peers.  I’ve witnessed firsthand in Newark how scary and daunting and selfless that decision is for those brave few who don’t opt for the “easy” way out. That’s why I’ve been praying for you, for that womb, for that young woman, for her life lived which led to your conception.   And I’ve been praying for that brave decision she will make. Too many of your peers have been wiped out, destroyed for their lack of convenience, silenced before they’ve been given a chance to cry out. A wise man once said, “Do for one, what you wish you could do for all.” I can’t save all those babes, but I have been praying for, and preparing for, and planning for one…for you.

I’ve been praying…and now I’m coming, sweet pea…Coming into that woman’s life, coming into yours.  We’ve got a mountain to climb, to get to you…stacks of papers to fill out, numerous appointments and meetings to make, and thousands of dollars to raise.  And while I pray for you, and survey the mountain needing climbing, I think of the One who prays and intercedes for me…and for you….and for your birth mother continually…THAT praying One climbed a mountain far bigger than a homestudy and the cost of adoption.  That One climbed Calvary, climbed right up on that cross, and descended down the other side into hell.  All that He might adopt me. and you. and the millions of His enemies  that were sought after, sacrificed for, and loved into becoming the Father’s children. Beloved children.

I’m praying for you, to the One who is praying for me, the One who is propelling us towards you. And one day, your Daddy and I are going to hold you in our arms, and we’ll get a picture.

And we’ll frame that picture, frame it in Hannah’s words spoken thousands of years ago because she herself prayed long and hard for a much-waited-for child.

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.”  I Samuel 1:27

And our prayers will continue for you…that you will be lent to the Lord, your Maker.  The One who sets the lonely in families.

The One who sets you in our family.

For HE and I have been praying for you.

“…but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”  Hebrews 7:24-26

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds- his name is the Lord- and rejoice before him.  A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”  Psalm 68: 4-6

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Proverbs 31:8

Would you like to join us in this adventure? Or rather, would you like to join God in His adventurous business of setting the lonely in families? You can partake of this communion with God in the following ways:

~subscribe to this blog to receive updates on the adoption process

~commit to being a prayer warrior for this endeavor

~start the adoption process yourselves

-sign up to become a foster parent

~fulfill the call to care for the orphan, by financially giving towards those in your life who are opening their homes to babes and children needing families.