Praying for YOU...

"LORD, you have probed me, you know me:

you know when I sit and stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

You sift through my travels and my rest;

with all my ways you are familiar.

Where can I go from your spirit?

From your presence, where can I flee?

If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;

if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.

If I take the wings of dawn

and dwell beyond the sea,

Even there your hand guides me,

your right hand holds me fast.

You formed my inmost being;

you knit me in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;

wonderful are your works!

My very self you know."

-Psalm 139

This is one of those days that I dream of our little one. An autumn morning where leaves begin to fall and there is an excitement in the air. This is one of those mornings where I feel somehow close to a child that I have never met. I have no idea God's plan and His timing in bringing our baby to us but as things progress in our adoption process,  excitement rises up in our hearts. Our yearning burns even more to meet our son or daughter. It's mornings like these that I wonder if our child has even been conceived yet... and then I pray so, so earnestly for him or her. It's a strange feeling to love something so much when you haven't even met him or her yet. You sometimes feel a little wacko. But then I am reminded in scripture that even before our child is formed in his/her mother's womb, He/she is loved by our heavenly Father, too. And I don't feel as crazy. :)

There is so much that I pray for, for our son or daughter. And the church's daily scripture readings remind me of how to pray for my child. I pray that my child would know and believe the words in Psalm 139... to the core. That he/she would know they are fearfully and wonderfully made, worthy of every good thing.  I pray that our child would know the guidance of the Spirit and trust in it throughout his/her life. I pray that they would never feel lonely and find comfort in his/her perfect Father in heaven. I pray that he/she would grow to learn that our family was knit together by God in a way that beautifully represents the gospel message and our relationship with our heavenly Father. I pray that our family would always be a reminder to him/her of our Father's love for him/her and humanity....that our Lord has "formed and fashioned our human family to share in the infinite love of the Trinity".

...And during those times when my heart is exhausted and I have so, so much to pray. When all my words scramble together and all I can manage to do is kneel...

...I utter the words of Paul...

"For this reason I kneel before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

- Ephesians 3

It's just one of those days...when all my heart can do is pray.