baby development

Saturday, October 08, 2005

A Prayer of Thanks

Heavenly Father, as I look out at this beautiful rainy and overcast October day, I am reminded of your love for me. As the Fall air swept over my face and the cold mist surrounded me, I found you there in my presence. How constant is your love. How enduring is your patience with me. How strong your arms are around me as you hold me up and set my feet in motion.

Thank you for the blessing of the wonderful friends who have posted prayers for me, and for the countless others who are praying for Michael and I as we spend this weekend regrouping and filling ourselves with your grace to be able to continue in your will. I pray you would bless them ten-fold as they have blessed me with their kind words and heartfelt prayers. Thank you for our time with a beautiful newborn baby, for the reunification of a family, and for hope that they may strengthen and come to serve you. Thank you for allowing Michael and I the opportunity to lean on each other and provide the kinds of support we need in our marriage. I pray you give strength to all of the couples (and men and women) seeking children through conception or adoption or foster parenting. May they too feel your arms of love around them as they also prepare for the journey that is all too difficult. I pray for the birth families of the children that will one day become ours. May they find peace in the midst of their circumstances. Keep them safe, and send people their way to show them the way. Be with our children, born and unborn. Keep them safe as well, and comfort them as their worlds change in extraordinary ways.

Heavenly Father, you know each of our needs, yet we bring each one to you by name. We bring you our weaknesses, our tears, our impatience, our frustration, and our anger. We lay these at your feet, Father. Take them from us. Cleanse us of all that is outside of your good and perfect plan. We surrender our lives and our choices, and our future plans to you. Have your way in our lives. Let our temporary pain and suffering be a reminder that you paid the ultimate price so that we might have life eternal where we will never suffer, and never die.

It is in your name I pray. Amen.