Today is the day! Will you pray for us?

We leave in just a few more hours on this crazy adventure back to Ethiopia! It has been a really insane week around here, and will remain that until we are on that plane headed for my beloved Ethiopia. Really quick before we leave- I don't want to forget one very important thing. And that is to ask you if you will PRAY? This is definitely one of the bigger, more faith-required things we will have done in our lives and we are in desperate need of others who will go before the throne of God on our and our children's behalf. We will be gone exactly one week, and while that is such an incredibly short amount of time to fly all the way to Africa and back- a lot can happen in that short time as well! We are praying for many more miracles in this God-orchestrated story!

 Here are a few things we are asking you, our friends and family if you will commit to praying for:

• Physical protection while we travel. We are praying against any sickness or injuries- we don't have time to be sick! :o
• Spiritual protection for all involved. This kind of thing (walking by FAITH, sharing God's love, & caring for the orphans) makes the enemy mad and he would love no other thing but to see us stumble and fall. We must remember that when we are weak- that the LORD shows His strength and power. Pray that we would only look to Christ in all things.
• For N and M's hearts. Pray the Lord would already be preparing their hearts for hearing what we will tell them. Pray that they would be able to understand what adoption will truly mean for them and their future. Pray that they would have unity in their decision. Pray that they say YES! :) {couldn't help but state the obvious!}
• For our emotions. It would be a flat-out lie if I said that we wouldn't be devastated if they said no to wanting to be adopted. Our emotions have already been running high this week as we think about being with all the children again... but I don't know how we will bear it if God's answer is not what we hope for.
• For Jensen. He is so excited to go, but a little nervous too. Although he is quite an experienced traveler for a kid his age, he is not sure what to expect in Africa and has expressed some fears with that. Knowing his heart and what the Lord has done in his life already- I have assured Jensen that he will fall in LOVE and want to go back again and again. What an awesome blessing to be able to see what God does in his life through this trip.
• For our kids at home. Austin will be finishing up his local mission trip tomorrow with our church, and Nathan and Elliana are headed to Auntie's house today. All 3 of them will probably be back and forth between Randy's sister's house and Randy's parent's house a mile down the road. They are in the best capable hands so we are not worried, but of course pray for them as we are away from them for a week. Especially our little Elliana. She has a really hard time with any kind of change, so please lift her up specifically this week. I know we will have a lot of hard nights when we get home (we had 2 months of hardly any sleep after the last trip), but sometimes we have to do things like this that are hard.
• For strength and sanity for Allyson & Ryan and Tim & Darla- who will be caring for our kids while we are away! :)
• For all of the children at the orphanage. I am not sure how they will take the news if N and M say yes. They are all like brothers and sisters and I am sure it will be really hard to understand. It makes me sad just thinking about it.
• For one of the other little girls at the orphanage, M who is going to be told that she has a family who wants to adopt her. We have the amazing privilege and blessing to be able to take her a care package and letter telling her about the adoption.
• For us to be open to whatever the Lord has in store for us. I know from experience how dangerous this prayer can be! Last time this is what we prayed and now look at where we are at! We want to be led by His Spirit and not by our emotions or flesh.
• Pray for our next door neighbor. His wife (also my friend) passed away very suddenly last week at the age of 40 and it has been really hard. We have been trying to minister to him as best as we can while we prepare to leave. But the service is this weekend and I so wish we could be there for support. So please just pray for him in this very difficult time.
• And lastly pray that God would be glorified no matter what happens. We are simply pencils in the hand of God and we are trusting Him to write our story, as well as N and M's. If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you know that absolutely NONE of this could have happened without miracles from God. Every single thing in this process has seemed impossible before the Lord swept in and showed his amazing power. He has put us here in this place for such a time as this and we are blessed to be along on this journey!

THANK YOU sweet friends! I know those of you who told me that you would pray- WILL PRAY! And so many of you donated and gave so much and I want you to know that we will be talking about all of you while we are there. We will be telling all of the children about YOU, our dear sweet ones in the U.S. who gave and have prayed for them! We are so incredibly blessed by each one of you! We love you!

I will send updates when I can- both here and on facebook- so check back soon to see how God is answering our prayers! 

Now off to prepare for a looong day of travel!