In Everything By Prayer...

We have waited for so long

for these children of choice.

Bless us

with an abundance of your love

that we may be good parents,

that we may create a home of blessing,

that we may encourage these children

to the fullness of their potential.

Bless our children, O God.

Give them security in our family,

the joy of laughter in our home,

and the courage to face

the challenges ahead.

Let our children know the love

we feel so deeply for them,

and let this love be a strength

to confront the opportunities of life.

Amen.

We had a wonderful evening of prayer last night. There were 20 adults and 10 children and Kim and I were truly humbled and blessed by it. We prayed corporately for about 30 minutes with the children, then dismissed the children and broke up into small groups of 4-6 to pray specifically for different aspects of the adoption and upcoming travel for about an hour, and then got back together corporately for an hour as they layed hands on us and blessed us and sang hymns and songs of praise. To say it was a blessing is an understatement. Kim and I were deeply moved by the encouragement and prayers.

We do have some good news to report. On Thursday we received confirmation from the US Consulate of our VISA appointment that we've been waiting for. It is scheduled for Tuesday February 5th the week we are there. And they re-confirmed our BioFamily appointment scheduled at the embassy next Tuesday January 22nd. By far, this is the most important date, and the date we are trusting God will be at work during. We would still appreciate your prayers concerning that appointment. Both the birth moms and our children will be present, and it will be the first time they've seen each other in a year. So it's bound to be an emotional day for the moms and children. I pray for protection over Josiah and Gabriella's heart so that they will not feel abandoned again. And that no emotional, rash decisions would be made by the mothers. Fear is not of God, but the truth is, that day represents the most anxiety for us. We feel that if things go as planned, Tuesday afternoon we will feel like we are "home free".

I will begin packing this week as I leave for Norway on Friday night. We've finally got all our documents notarized and gathered together for our two dossiers. I will join Kim in Brussels a week from Friday so pray for her as she makes the long journey alone. We land in Liberia two weeks from tomorrow and our lives as we know it will never be the same.

Thanks for staying with us through this incredible journey, and expect to see more posts over the coming weeks.