PRAY: Prayer for Adoptive Parents
As I write this, a dear friend is preparing to take a journey. In order to make it, she and her husband have waited years and waded through mounds of paperwork and red tape. When she brings the newest of her three daughters home from Haiti (the other two were born in China and Ethiopia, respectively), many will rejoice—but none so much as this amazing family.
And also as I write this, two other dear friends are traveling to China. There, this young couple will enlarge their family with the addition of Promise, a precious toddler. Promise needs surgeries to correct her cleft palate. But more than that, she needs a mommy and daddy. And they know they need her.
Twenty-five years ago this coming Sunday, my husband and I stood before a judge with a precious seven-month old baby girl. From the moment we first held her in the hospital, she stole our hearts. And on October 7, 1987, she also took our last name.
Cindy and Billy, Michael and Shannon, and Kristen Elizabeth, this one’s for you—along with all the other adoptive and hope-to-be adoptive parents and their children.
Dear Father, How wonderful that you allow us the privilege of using that great name. You are our true Father. And today, Lord, I want to lift up those who are giving the least of these a father, or a mother, or both. These children have been (for one reason or another) left behind. You see it in their eyes. You hear it in their voices. And, if you’re an adoptive parent, you do your best to remove any trace of rejection or abandonment from their lives.
Lord, I lift up these parents to you today. They make their adoptive journey in all sorts of ways, none of them easy. Some of them give up careers. Some of them sacrifice homes and finances. Some of them travel long distances. And some endure rejection or rude questions from family, friends, or acquaintances.
When you pull a child from the mire, some of the muck sticks. I ask you, God, to guide these parents in its removal. Wash the children clean by the power of your Word and your loving mercy. Give the parents grace to choose relationship over rules along with the wisdom to know when rules must prevail. Give them strength to continue their journey of sacrifice. Give them vision for tomorrow and faith to wait as you bring it to pass. Fill them with the hope of your love for their children and the willing investment you pour into their lives each day. Keep them safe from the enemy and his awful, evil schemes. They have no power in the lives of those who claim you as Lord and master.
Father, we know our example in adoption is you. We have not chosen you, but you have chosen us (John 15:16). Help all adoptive parents model your choice, your love, and your grace before their children—that one day, the little ones may also recognize and choose your way. In Jesus’ powerful name I pray, AMEN.
Do you know an adoptive parent? Feel free to share this prayer. And feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your adoption stories!
Marti – as an adoptive parent of 20 children (raised along side the 2 who were born to us), I so love and appreciate this prayer. Our children do come with some of the muck as you phrased it and in addition they enrich our lives in innumerable ways some which are obvious and some not so much until years later when we reflect and ponder and “treasure in our hearts” all the ways God has brought joy, growth, blessing, mercy, grace and courage into our lives through our children. I would add to your prayer a prayer lifting up the birth parents of children who are adopted. While many have gotten into impossibly messy, muddy and murky circumstances that led to their inability to parent their child(ren) ALL of the hundreds and hundreds of birth parents I have come to know through my family and my life work deeply loved their children and were themselves traumatized by the events in their lives, even if some were created or exacerbated by their own poor choices. So I pray for the birth parents of the families you have called out by name in this post as well as all birth parents everywhere that their own hearts and souls will be touched by the love of our Father and they too will be healed and adopted into his ever-embracing eternal family!
Amen and Amen, Sue. There are always more prayers that can be added to those I highlight. I know my daughter and I both pray for her birth mom and are so grateful for the choice she made to give her life. Thanks for your wise insights.