Prayers for Anne

I watched the phenomenon sweep the blogs. I looked early on, but was too mortified to go back.

Then it got bigger and bigger, almost inescapable. I didn't understand all the lingo (and still don't), but I found myself paying closer attention, and praying. I gave in and spent a night on the website, looking at every picture. Then I read that I could become a prayer warrior for a child and I knew what I had to do.

I sent an email to Reece's Rainbow and eagerly awaited the response. Who would be our child?

I teared up when I saw her...

...because along with being totally adorable (and dressed like a little princess in a beautiful pink dress, pink shoes and big hair bow), she has epilepsy. You know who else has epilepsy? Ryan. Or, had it (he's been seizure free for more than ten years). I can't help but think we were meant to pray for her.

Her name is Anne. She's four years old. And epilepsy is her only medical issue, as far as I know. Yet she's in an orphanage, without a family of her own.

It's shocking to think that epilepsy - something Ryan has dealt with, something other relatives of mine deal with - is the reason that this sweet little girl is living in an orphanage. Yes, it can be a debilitating disorder. Sometimes extremely difficult to treat. And in Anne it appears to have caused some delays. But it breaks my heart to think it's keeping her from having a mommy and a daddy.

I pray all throughout the day for little Anne, and we pray for her at meal times and before bed with the kids. Clara already knows Anne's name and says it specifically (along with constantly asking Jesus for "another baby" lately, but that's a topic for another post!).

Tonight, as we knelt on the floor of Clara's room and prayed for Anne during bed-time prayers, my heart simultaneously filled with joy and broke when Clara asked Jesus for a "mommy bring her home."

Our family knows a little something about a mommy (and daddy) bringing a baby home. And what an enormous blessing adoption can be. How more good than could ever be imagined can come from a broken situation. And how that sweet child can nestle her way into your heart in ways you never thought possible. I could go on and on.

Anne needs her very own mommy to bring her home. A mommy and a daddy, and maybe even siblings, to cuddle her, make her giggle uncontrollably, and kiss her goodnight. She should be kneeling on the floor of her very own bedroom saying her bed-time prayers.

Please join me in praying that beautiful Anne's mommy and daddy do find her, and quickly. And for healing for her epilepsy. And for all the innocent little sweethearts at Reece's Rainbow.

If you'd like to read more about Anne, and even consider donating to her adoption fund, go here.

And if you want to become a prayer warrior, go here. You won't regret it.