the adoption barn
I have an adoption barn. If you live near me, you know it. If not, here is a description. It is a large red barn, faded by the sun and time. The paint is chipping and peeling. the roof is sagging. It is positioned on a century farm in the middle of town, along the bike path. Many people go there to have pictures taken against the barn as a backdrop. Birds fly in and out of the windows way up at the top….and it is just a familiar structure here. Four years ago, we began our adoption process for Precious Maryn. I was walking the then-new bike trail often and as I walked, I prayed. The barn became my landmark. If I'd been walking awhile, singing, thinking, planning, praying…..when I saw the barn something in me said "check" and I began to specifically pray for our adoption. I included all the other families I knew who were in the process, who had called on me to intercede in prayer for their adoptions as well.
We got out baby girl in August of '09, and I continued to walk the bike path when the weather allowed. I found that there was always someone on my prayer radar who was somewhere on the adoption spectrum. I say spectrum because I am often praying for those who are 1. trying to decide if adoption is for them….2. just starting or moving through the paperwork….3. waiting…..and 4. have their child: and we NEED to be praying prayers of praise and thanksgiving for #4 people.
Yesterday I walked past the adoption barn again. Predicatably, when I saw the barn, my prayer focus shifted to all things adoption…..and I was actually jogging, not walking…..so the praying went quicker. Not by much. But quicker….and I just took a second to marvel at how much respect and adoration I have for this adoption barn. I love this place. I wanted to stop and take some pictures and didn't because life just takes hold again, once I'm past the barn…..but I hope to do that sometime soon. This barn represents so much to me. It means obedience, responding to a call from the Lord. It means humility….and our complete lack of ability to make these adoptions happen on our own…..It means hope and promise and happy endings over and over again when I know that a family was aching for a child, and knowing that child is in the loving family God intended. The barn also means a cautious fear….impending wonder. What is God up to next? Are there more kids on the horizon who I will be called to pray for as I move past the barn?
I watched birds fly into the barn and saw that God is calling children into the barn, into the nests that exist inside the windows. He is drawing them in to this place of safety, nurture, love. The barn is big and old and tired. (smile.) But its still being used. It still stands. Sometimes my prayers for adoption feel futile, tired, hopeless and I just get plain-sick of how hard adoption is……but that just dissolves into vapor when I walk past the barn. Prayer has power. Prayer has purpose. I'm grateful to this big old red barn that keeps me praying.
We got out baby girl in August of '09, and I continued to walk the bike path when the weather allowed. I found that there was always someone on my prayer radar who was somewhere on the adoption spectrum. I say spectrum because I am often praying for those who are 1. trying to decide if adoption is for them….2. just starting or moving through the paperwork….3. waiting…..and 4. have their child: and we NEED to be praying prayers of praise and thanksgiving for #4 people.
Yesterday I walked past the adoption barn again. Predicatably, when I saw the barn, my prayer focus shifted to all things adoption…..and I was actually jogging, not walking…..so the praying went quicker. Not by much. But quicker….and I just took a second to marvel at how much respect and adoration I have for this adoption barn. I love this place. I wanted to stop and take some pictures and didn't because life just takes hold again, once I'm past the barn…..but I hope to do that sometime soon. This barn represents so much to me. It means obedience, responding to a call from the Lord. It means humility….and our complete lack of ability to make these adoptions happen on our own…..It means hope and promise and happy endings over and over again when I know that a family was aching for a child, and knowing that child is in the loving family God intended. The barn also means a cautious fear….impending wonder. What is God up to next? Are there more kids on the horizon who I will be called to pray for as I move past the barn?
I watched birds fly into the barn and saw that God is calling children into the barn, into the nests that exist inside the windows. He is drawing them in to this place of safety, nurture, love. The barn is big and old and tired. (smile.) But its still being used. It still stands. Sometimes my prayers for adoption feel futile, tired, hopeless and I just get plain-sick of how hard adoption is……but that just dissolves into vapor when I walk past the barn. Prayer has power. Prayer has purpose. I'm grateful to this big old red barn that keeps me praying.
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