Operation World

A few weeks ago, inspired by David Platt's exhortation in Radical, we decided to pray for every nation this year.

So far, this discipline has served to spice up our meal time conversation, bring awareness of world issues to our children, heighten our geography skills and bless the entire world. Not too bad, huh?

We use the book, Operation World, which gives facts about each nation as well identifies specific prayers needs. After we finish praying, we put a tiny star sticker on the country.

Tonight, we ate an Ethiopian meal for dinner- doro wat. This, of course, inspired us to pray for Ethiopia- the great land where Sitota was born.

Here is Sitota enjoying every last drop of her beloved doro wat...

Heart Update

The decision has been made! Therese will have open heart surgery on May 11th to correct her heart defect- coarctation of the aorta. It will be done at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL by Dr. Ilbawi.

Casey and I had to go through a laborious decision making process to determine what method should be used to correct her heart defect, which surgeon and which hospital. How crazy is it that PARENTS have to make these life altering decisions? In the end, we will be at the same hospital that has time and again saved Carter's life and with the same surgeon. We are comfortable there and have great relationships with the staff. We are so grateful to have such wonderful medical care available to us and we are thrilled to share it with Therese.

"Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me." Psalm 30:2

My prayer this morning is for Therese's birth mother. For a woman who had a child she could not keep. I feel such a glorious obligation to her. I want her to know that her prayers are being answered. How many times did she cry out for her daughter to be healed? How many times did she wish for help that did not come?

We can not imagine how God is answering our prayers, the cries of our hearts. We may not see it, but He is moving. We may only hear silence, but He is orchestrating. I think of the work He started in my heart long ago, in order to bring me to say, "yes" to adopting this girl. I am in awe of His plan. He HEARS us! He ANSWERS prayer! He USES us!

Prayer Needed

This Friday, Therese will have a 2-hour sedated MRI. During this MRI, they will be looking at her heart, to determine the course for surgery, and the blood vessels in her brain, to check for damage caused by the high blood pressure going to her brain all these years.

This weekend we were visited by new friends who knew Therese in Burkina Faso. One of the women is Burkinabe and was able to explain the procedure to Therese in French. Isn't that a blessing?! Plus, this friend shares a special connection to Therese because she herself has had multiple heart surgeries. Isn't God good to give us new friends at exactly the right time?

I'll post an update on Friday as soon as I can.

The Fight

So, sadly, our adoption did not get approved in court yesterday. Why? I really don't know. It seems the judge removed the three adoption related cases off his docket and we just don't know why.

This makes me incredibly sad for my little girl who remains an orphan and must go on with her heart un-repaired, at least until the next court date- November 2nd.

One of my first thoughts after I heard this news was how to tell my girls. My girls who sat in our family room listening to our friends and family pouring out their requests to God on behalf of the orphan and, specifically, our case. Would this make them doubt the power of prayer and God's goodness?

Yesterday morning, before we knew we didn't pass, both girls remarked independently to me about how much they loved that prayer time. I admit it came as a surprise to me. It was long and full of words and concepts they didn't understand. Sitota asked when we could do it again. Evelea said she just loved the feeling.

After I told Sitota the bad news, she quickly said "well, can we do the prayer thing again, because I loved that". Wow.

Evelea said, "Let's think of three reasons why this is good". Wow.

In an effort to fight the darkness back, one of my best friends issued a challenge on her blog to sponsor all the waiting girls in Burkina Faso through Compassion International. Wow.

God challenged me this morning to combat my discouragement by writing letters of encouragement to friends who are facing difficult things.

My girls don't give up and neither do I.

Court Date- part Trois

Once again, tomorrow we have our court date in Burkina Faso. An attorney there will represent our case, and hopefully, tomorrow we will be announcing the name of our new daughter and posting her sweet picture.

Tonight, friends are gathering at our house to pray this little girl home. We are going to claim the promises of God over her life and our family and ask God to mercifully grant us a positive outcome to our court hearing. I can't tell you how it thrills me to think of our home full of people on their knees caring about what the Father cares about. If you drive past the house and it is shaking, I wouldn't be surprised! By the way, if you are local and want to come- please do!

We will also be praying for the other children in the orphanage to find families.

Psalm 68:6a

God sets the lonely in families.

Psalm 140:12

I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

Psalm 10:17-18

You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

Do our hearts reflect the Father's? Is there something more we could be doing to defend the fatherless? We are His hands and feet. Let's move them as He would have us move them.

Pray for Carter!

Carter is getting his tonsils removed on August 7th- everyone, please pray!  We are excited for him to get this surgery because he has been struggling for about 18 months now with strep throat, infected, painful tonsils, difficulty swallowing and difficulty breathing.  Carter has been on a blood thinning medication called Coumadin for almost three years now.  Tonight, we have to stop giving him this medication because he can't be on it so close to the big surgery date.  Please pray that he will be safe while he isn't taking the medication, there is a slight risk of stroke which is, of course, scary.