LESS THAN 30 DAYS- PRAY IT UP!

Last Sunday marked exactly 30 days until we go to Uganda to get 2 more children. My family will grow by almost 50% more kids over night and we'll spend the rest of our lives with 2 children who have never really met us.

This made my heart stop a little on Sunday. I'm guessing it probably freaks two little ones out a little too. If you pray, here's how you can for us:

• WORK STUFF: details in youth ministry. I have lots to get done and get covered before I leave for a month. pray it all gets done. pray for a great team to fill in the gaps.
  

• OUR 3 BOYS: our boys are ready and excited, but it's gonna be hard to be without them for a month while we are 9000 miles away. Please pray that they are healthy, protected, and encouraged in our absence. Pray for strength for the grandparents as they trade off playing the role of mom and dad to 3 crazy kids.

• OUR HOME: I still have several projects I'm trying to finish up before we leave. Some stuff in Becky's room, a solution Tyler's lack of drawer space, a dinner table scenario that will hold 7 people, a few details outside, etc. These are just a few of the many things we need to figure out in the next 28 days. AHHHH.
  

• OUR COURT DATES: we need several smooth court dates in Uganda. Pray that they all come through and that we receive good favor with the judges.

• MEETING DAD: we will meet the maternal father of our kids while there. Pray for compassion, grace, wisdom, and a sincerely and unmistakably Divine presence in that meeting. Pray that we are encouraging and that God helps us as this will be a BIG piece of our kids legacy and a memory I want to be really really good. Truth is, this meeting both scares and confuses me.

• FINANCES: praise God we've raised most of our funds. Pray that God will continue to show us what we need to pay for and the wisdom to know what are the right decisions.

• HEALTH: pray that everyone in this process remains healthy- both our kids here and us as we are in Uganda and Becky and Billy.

• SCHOOLING: pray that God opens the right doors for the perfect fit for our new kids as they get assimilated into the school system in America.

• BONDING: a BIG issue in adoption is the issue of bonding or "attachment". You either get it quickly or you fight for it for years. Pray that our bonding with our new Ugandan kids is immediate and intimate and natural and ridiculously blessed. Pray that they feel like we are the parents they've always wanted and that it feels to them as if we have never not been there. Pray the same for them and our boys as we form a new concept of family in the coming months and years here in San Diego too.
  

• GRACE: pray for grace. We will surely screw something up in this process. Pray for grace by God and people in the process.

ok.. I could keep typing, but I'll just leave it with that. If you pray, we'd be honored if you'd do some for our family in this transition.