day four

dear god

thank you for the things you had in store for me today. thank you for the things you taught me. thank you for warm sun and the bird that visited us at the window this morning. thank you for the laughs we had as a family before sean left for work. thank you that ej and heidi are good friends as well as my bosses and that we got to spend time together today.

god please continue to help us be generous with the good things you have given us. we are making out a few checks for giving away and it feels good after so long of pinching pennies. i am so thankful for the friends who have encouraged us in sticking to a tight budget so that now at the end of the month we're not negative and having to use our credit cards. i am so thankful for learning this so that we can finally give again. show us other ways to be generous, not just with money.

of course i want to pray for frank and ezekiel. please be protecting them. please help them to learn to form healthy attachments. please help them not to feel abandoned by all of their former foster families.

we pray for tylon. i don't know if he is the one you have picked out for our family but we will follow this through til you say stop. please be protecting him in the mean time and preparing us for the next steps. help us to use our heads as well as our hearts as we move forward.

i pray for all of the foster kids and orphans. help them to know you as their father for the times they feel especially lonely for a family. but, with all due respect, that's not good enough. please help families be willing to invite those kids into their families. and help us to be good ambassadors even though we have been heart broken by the very system we would love to see people get involved in.

i pray for my friends who are missionaries abroad. i am seeing so many separated by distance. please help my missionary friends not be too homesick for their families.

i pray for colton. i pray that you will help us to nurture everything that is sweet in him and shepherd out anything that is hurtful or selfish. i know he's just a kid but help us know how to guide him to become the man you have planned.

god please forgive me for being stingy with my time and energy. i realize that now that i am home with colton so much i'm finding it harder to reach out to others. shake me out of this home-body rut i'm in. let me be a good example to colton.

help us to sleep great tonight so we are ready to face tomorrow with great attitudes!

amen...