Stress? Me? Why Do You Ask?

The last week-and-a-half has been a roller coaster of emotions. Last Tuesday, 10/18, we received confirmation about a meeting between the Lesotho Department of Social Welfare and the adoption agency representatives on 10/20. We felt compelled to cover this meeting with some major prayer action. I went so far as to fast, which my friends know isn't my favorite Spiritual discipline and does weird things to me physically. Still, this was important.

On Monday morning, 10/24, I learned that my former boss and mentor, Gary Rowe, died after a six year battle with cancer. While I take comfort in knowing that he is now free from pain and surely enjoying heaven to the fullest, his death makes this world a little lot less vibrant.

While mourning this loss, we received news from our adoption agency that the meeting with Social Welfare went well and that our adoption can proceed. HOORAH! Except, while celebrating, a well-meaning-but-asks-too-many-questions friend asked what that meant - proceed. We realized we have no idea. Next step? No idea. So I scrambled to arrange a face-to-face meeting with our adoption agency director on Friday, which I can just pull off if I drive like a maniac to Indianapolis for Gary's funeral, spend the night, and break the sound-barrier getting to the agency before needing to arrive back in Louisville for work. Now I just need to figure out what questions I need to ask. I don't know what I don't know.

MEANWHILE, our dog got into the garbage (again!) and ended up spending two days at the vet with salmonella poisoning.

We are also in the thick of refinancing, which I thought would be a good idea until I remembered I have a deep distrust of mortgage companies in general (no offense to our super-great mortgage broker whom I love) coupled with an OCD need to understand the ridiculously complicated fees and credits and cost-breakdowns involved in refinancing. (Why math people can't use WORDS is beyond me.)

Oh, and Trent went out of town.

In the midst of all of this, I broke out in hives. ON MY FACE. It got so bad I went to the doctor, who, perplexed ("Did you know your ear is really red and swollen? How bizarre! I've never seen this before."), brought in a ginormous book on dermatological oddities as well as medical backup to figure out what was wrong with me. Allergies? Don't think so. Rosacea? No. A rare, obscure fugus from the depths of the African rainforest. Um...no? Finally, the doctor asked, "Have you been under any stress lately? Sometimes hives can be caused by an excessive amount of the stress hormone cortisol."

Have I been under any stress lately? Hahahahahaha ha ha ha! No, no more than usual. Why do you ask?

Rally the Troops!

I learn best through story. So whenever I think about prayer warriors, I think about the pastor in Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness. The pastor feels compelled to pray for his church and for the people in his small town. Unbeknownst to him, his prayers and the prayers of the other believers give God's angels the authority and the power to battle against the demonic forces attacking the town. It's a serious offensive against the powers of this dark world. The church grows, lives are saved, and the bad guys go down!

So now, when God's people pray, I imagine God giving the go-ahead for his angelic troops to launch an all-out spiritual offensive. And right now, I'm feeling the need for some serious spiritual intervention.

This Thursday, 10/20, at 8:30 am Eastern Time (2:30 pm Lesotho Time), there is an important meeting about adoptions in Lesotho between the Lesotho Department of Social Welfare and the adoption agency representatives. It is heavy on my heart to cover this meeting from top to bottom with all-out prayer action. Rally the troops! Forward, CHARGE!

1) Pray for clarity of roles and processes and for relationships to be healed and clarified.

2) Pray against confusion and the spirit of competition and control.

3) Pray for cooperation and a focus on the best interests of orphaned and vulnerable children in Lesotho. And here I seriously mean the BEST interests. I don't propose that adoption is the best option for every orphaned and vulnerable child, but it is the best for some. (That's another blog post in itself.) The determination requires much wisdom and discernment.

4) Pray that God will act mightily to defend the weak and  the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed; rescue the weak and the needy (Psalm 8:2).

5) Pray that God will continue to flood P. with a peace that comes from knowing he is loved, he belongs, and he has an identity.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12