Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 1

Lord God,

You are the Author of Life and Freedom.

In your Spirit, we have the freedom of the children of God,

And in your Name, we promote the freedom of all

To seek, embrace, and live the truth of your Word.

In that freedom, Lord, we your people stand with Life

And reject whatever destroys life

Or distorts the meaning of human sexuality.

In that freedom, Lord, we your people live our lives

In a way that advances your Kingdom of Life,

And we refuse to cooperate in what is evil.

At this moment, therefore, when our government has decided

To force us to cooperate in evil,

We pray for the grace to be faithful to you

And to oppose the unjust laws and mandates

That have been imposed upon us and our institutions.

We pray for the conversion of those in civil authority

Who fail to appreciate the demands of conscience.

We pray for the complete reversal of all policies

That permit the destruction of life

Or coerce the cooperation of your people

In practices that are wrong.

Bring us to a Culture of Life.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate, Day 2

Lord Jesus Christ,

You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

You are the ruler of every nation

And you call all nations to obey your law,

Which is higher than any human law.

Lord Jesus,

We lift up to you today

All who serve in public office.

We pray, Lord, for our President

And for the thousands of people who serve in his administration.

We pray that you enlighten and guide them,

And free them from the deception of evil.

Give them a new respect for human life, for freedom of conscience,

And for the rights of your people.

We pray that your people may be free from all unjust laws and mandates

And may always raise their voices

On behalf of human rights.

We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 3

God our Father,

You are the author of Liberty.

You created each human being

In your own image and likeness,

And bestowed upon each person

A dignity that nobody can take away.

You are the defender of our freedom,

A freedom by which we seek you,

And seek to be faithful to your law.

At this time of our history,

We ask you to protect the freedom you have given us

And to defend our dignity.

Give us the grace to speak up

On behalf of conscience,

And the freedom to live out our faith

No matter what the cost.

Give to each person, and to our public officials

the grace to respect

each person's freedom of conscience and religion.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 4

Lord Jesus Christ,

Ruler of all nations,

You gave your apostles the command

To preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth,

And promised that you would be with them all days,

Even until the end of the world.

After your Ascension,

They went forth to preach your word

And you confirmed with signs and wonders

That you were working through them.

When they were told by the authorities of their day

Not to speak your name anymore,

And were even arrested and scourged,

They boldly declared,

"We must obey God rather than men!"

Lord Jesus,

You continue to proclaim your Word

in your Church today.

Give us the same clarity, courage, and determination

That your apostles had,

That we may not allow any obstacle or earthly power

To intimidate us into silence or compromise.

Grant that our highest loyalty may always and only be to you,

Who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 5

Lord God,

You are Light, and in you there is no darkness.

You sent your Son Jesus Christ

As the Light of the World,

And you sent your Holy Spirit

To enlighten the hearts and minds of all.

Lord, we pray today

That we may always experience

The light of your truth,

Informing our conscience

Of what is right and what is wrong.

We pray that this light

Will reach all of our fellow citizens

That they may recognize the dangers of evil

Which are often hidden along their path.

Open the eyes and minds of all

To the threats that currently exist

To our religious freedom,

To the health and well-being of women,

And to the good of our nation.

Give us the grace not only to recognize evil,

But also to reject it with the unwavering strength

That comes from you.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 6

Father,

You unite the human family

Through the blood of your Son Jesus Christ

And the gift of the Holy Spirit.

At this time of need,

When your Church and all your people

Are called to stand firm against injustices

Inflicted on us from our government,

We ask you to strengthen us in the bond of unity.

Strengthen the unity of your Church,

That none of your faithful may be on the sidelines,

But that everyone may be active in this battle.

Give Church leaders the grace to discern

The many varieties of the working of your Spirit

That they may fan into flame the gifts that the Spirit

Bestows freely on your people.

And give us the wisdom to know

That no group has a monopoly on the defense of life and freedom.

May we work in an ecumenical and inter-religious spirit

And welcome the efforts of all people of good will

Who believe in freedom of religion and conscience.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 7

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

We thank you, Father,

For the grace of repentance

And the power of conversion at work in your people.

We thank you for your Holy Spirit,

Who convicts us of sin and enlightens us

About how to please you.

Lord, enable your people,

In the midst of current persecution and danger,

To live the spirit of repentance

Ever more deeply and effectively.

For every moment we lacked courage in the past,

Give us the grace to repent.

For every time we were silent when we should have spoken,

Give us the grace to repent.

For every time we could have witnessed to life but did not,

Give us the grace to repent.

Made strong by the spirit of repentance,

May your people rise up

And reverse the tide of evil in our midst.

Enable us to defend our freedom

And to build a Culture of Life.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 8

Father,

Your Son Jesus Christ has taught us

That those who mourn over their sins

And over the evils in the world

Are blessed indeed, and will be comforted.

We come before you today

In that spirit of Christian mourning

Over how far our nation's policies

Have strayed from your law

And from the respect for life and conscience

That every law should reflect.

In the power of your Spirit,

Our mourning does not make us weak,

But rather renews our strength

To work for change.

Enable us, then, to speak up

And educate our fellow citizens,

And to make our voices heard

To our elected officials.

Reverse the unjust policies

That have been forced upon us,

And restore our nation

To the principles of freedom and justice

Upon which it was founded.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena to Reverse HHS Mandate -- Day 9

God of our Fathers,

We thank you for our nation,

Founded by those who believed in your Word

And came to this land as if out of the desert

To seek a place of freedom and rest.

We thank you for their conviction

That our rights come from You, our Creator,

And that government exists

To secure those rights,

And never to destroy or weaken them.

Now that we face unjust mandates

That call upon us to violate our conscience,

We pray for your protection.

Keep us faithful to you in our every deed.

Grant that we may work for change

By being citizens who are active in the process

By which we elect our leaders.

Grant that by our efforts to educate and mobilize voters,

We may replace public officials who ignore your law

With those who observe it faithfully.

Bless our nation's upcoming elections.

As we rejoice that we are citizens of your Kingdom,

So make us always faithful citizens on earth.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

More referrals!

Last Friday, the assignment committee met again.  I know of two referrals that were made to families in the U.S. as a result of that meeting.  Possibly there were more, but I have heard of two.  Children are on their way to their forever families!  I am so excited for everyone involved!

I'm not sure if these referrals have any affect on us and our position on the wait list, but I am just thrilled that referrals have been made two months in a row.  Just plain thrilled!

Freedom

As I have said before, I put together this blog to keep friends and family up to date on the status of this adoption.  It's morphed a bit since there have been few hard facts to report (e.g., wait list numbers, etc), and has become more about how God has been working in my life and in my heart during this adoption progress, with a few hard facts tossed in now and again.  These past couple weeks, I think I can relate a teeny tiny bit to how Jeremiah felt when he tried to keep his mouth shut regarding what God was telling him, but finally he just could no longer contain it.   Just a teeny tiny bit, mind you.  Teeny, teeny, tiny.  I have been wrestling talking about this on the blog because hey this is not a political blog, and not everyone accepts the things that I accept, but at the same time, this issue is important enough that I just can't go without mentioning it.  I mean, there is a big elephant in the room.  So, here goes.

I'm talking about the mandate that has been put in the new health care program that health insurance policies must include coverage for birth control, abortifacients (drugs that cause abortions), and sterilizations, and to include them at no cost to the recipient.  This translates into that religious and other employers would have to include in their health insurance programs things that run contrary to their faith and against their conscience and then to pay for them.

People may disagree whether or not birth control, abortifacients, and sterilization are morally acceptable or not.  That is really not the issue.  The issue is whether people can be forced to do something that is against their religious beliefs and their conscience.  Should employers be forced to include these drugs and procedures in their health insurance programs?  Should people be forced to pay for drugs or procedures that they believe are gravely immoral?  Do we still have religious freedom in this land?  That is the issue.

On Friday of this week, March 23rd, in over eighty cities across the country, there are going to be rallies for religious liberty.  In Missouri, the rallies are going to be next Tuesday, March 27th.  I guess because of spring break.  I don't really know.  We like to do things differently here in Missouri.

Please check out this link to see the location of a rally near you.

http://standupforreligiousfreedom.com/locations/

Also, consider signing this letter:

http://womenspeakforthemselves.com/

I urge you to participate in any way you can.  If you can't attend one of the rallies, please keep this issue in your prayers.  Please consider prayer and fasting.  I love our country.  I believe you do too.  Please do what you can.

New wait list number!

Drum roll please........







We are.....







number....






11!!!!!

Truly exciting that we have moved off #15.  Last month, the committee placed eight children to Honduran families at one meeting and eight children to international families at a meeting a couple days later.  Children are always placed with Honduran families as a first priority, which I completely support.  Next in line are international families (American, Canadian, European) in the order that they are on the wait list.  After the referrals are made, and the families accept their referrals, then a new wait list is prepared with new wait list numbers.  And we are now #11.

Yeah, I know, my math is better than that.  15 minus 8 does not equal 11.  The reason we are not at number 7 on the wait list is that because some of the children that were referred did not fit in with what we could accept (i.e., they were older children or had special medical needs), and the committee had to look farther down the list to find families that could accept them.  Keep in mind that when we started this process back in November 2009, our youngest child was just 3 1/2.  We wanted to keep birth order as it is, so specified one or two children, age 3 or younger.  Of course, Erik is closing in on 6 now, but I still think that age 3 or younger is a good plan for us.

We understand that the committee is working on another meeting, just don't know the date for that yet.  Progress!!

Baseball

I heard the most interesting analogy the other day on EWTN radio about God seeing the big picture whereas we see only our little part of it.  I know that God sees the big picture, but it was presented in such an interesting way, that I just really resonated with me.  Apparently this is a true story, but since I am probably getting some of the details wrong, I won't use real names.

There was a baseball player in the major leagues.  A real powerhouse, big hitter, big base stealer, big star, popular with the fans.  His coach had a rule for the players:  do not steal a base unless I give you the signal.

Well, the superstar gets a base hit.  He's there on first base and thinks he's feeling quick, he's familiar enough with the pitcher, he can steal second.  But he's not getting the signal from his coach.  He decides to go for it anyway, and makes it safely to second base.  He's feeling pretty good about himself.  At the end of the inning, the coach calls him aside.  The coach is polite about it but basically tells him that he didn't give him the signal to steal second and goes on to explain the reason.  Next in the lineup was another power hitter, probably comparable to the superstar player.  But because the superstar stole second, first base was empty, and the pitcher intentionally walked that next batter.  The coach had wanted that batter to get a chance to hit, thinking that he might be able to drive in at least one run, possibly two.  But because the superstar had stolen second, the next batter didn't get a chance to hit.  After him were two batters that weren't as strong.  They both struck out, which ended the inning.  No runs were scored.  The team wasn't able to capitalize on the superstar's base hit because he had stolen second base without permission.  And it affected the lineup for the rest of the game. The superstar had only seen his part, but the coach had seen the whole picture.

The player knew his ability.  He knew he was fast and would likely be able to get to second base off that pitcher.  And he was right.  He could do it, and he did it.  But there was more at stake than him getting to second base.  He took matters into his own hands, and frustrated the coach's plan.  And the good thing that could have happened, didn't happen.

That one really got to me.  I'm no base runner (I'm slow as molasses), but I am competent in other ways.  But how many times am I cocky in my abilities?  How many times do I "frustrate" God's plans when I take matters into my own hands?  How many times does God have to work around me rather than through me?  How many times do I act and prevent others from doing something better?  How many times am I just plain unaware of what is going on around me and jump to conclusions?  How many times do I get grumpy when things don't go according to my plan because they are working ultimately as part of God's plan that I just can't see yet?

Definitely stuff to ponder there.  This isn't to say I'm just going to sit on the sofa eating bonbons waiting for things to happen around me, but I definitely think I need to chew on this one a while longer.

I praise God for always seeing the big picture and for always having the perfect plan.

Blogging

Late last summer, I converted my journal into this blog, thinking that we might be getting our referral "any day now" and wanted to have the blog established so that I could post pictures and quick notes to the blog while in Honduras, and family and friends back home could follow along.  Since then, I've enjoyed having this blog to share my thoughts and keep folks current on our journey.  I'm not very technical, but having a computer programmer in the family has allowed me to add to this blog some buttons and links (over on the right of this text) that I wanted to tell you a little about.  They are all near and dear to my heart.

The first is the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging.  Several years ago, a missionary priest visited our church and talked about an organization he is connected with:  CFCA.  Here's some info from one of CFCA's publications:  "CFCA is an organization that creates relationships between sponsors in the U.S. and children, youth, and aging persons in 22 developing countries. Through its Hope for a Family program, our contributions provide life-changing benefits such as education, nutrition, clothing and medical care for our sponsored friend. Through letter writing we are able to learn about our sponsored friend's life and offer our encouragement and prayers. Grounded in the Gospel call to serve the poor, CFCA works with people of all faith traditions. CFCA is highly rated by Charity Navigator and the American Institute of Philanthropy."

We found CFCA's work to be very compelling, and started sponsoring a young girl named Olga who lives in Guatemala.  Although CFCA also sponsors older adults, we thought sponsoring a child would be more interesting for our young boys, and we selected Guatemala since it is their heritage.  We contribute monthly to CFCA, and the contributions directly benefit Olga and her family by paying for school fees, uniforms, nutritious food, etc.  Several times a year, we write letters to Olga, and we receive letters from her and photos of her and her family.  When we first started sponsoring Olga, she was about six years old, and so her brother wrote the letters for her, saying that Olga's handwriting was illegible.  So funny!  But she always would include a sweet little drawing for us.  Now she is old enough to have very clear handwriting.  CFCA always translates the letters for us, but it is so nice to also receive Olga's handwritten letters telling us about her life.  We write to her and tell her about life here.  We have formed a relationship with her, and this relationship has been very special for us.

We invite you to check out CFCA (just click on the CFCA button on the right) and consider sponsoring a child or older adult.

Next is Ordinary Hero.  Here's some information from their website:  "Our Mission is to inspire and empower ORDINARY people to make an extraordinary difference in the life of a child in need.  Ordinary Hero Foundation is a nonprofit, 501c3, child advocacy organization. Our goal is to encourage and provide a way for every person to make a difference in the life of a child in need, through adoption, missions, or local outreach. We also strive to bring worldwide, public awareness to the orphan crisis. We aim to be a connector between those looking to make a difference and the child who needs your help, by promoting and providing outreach opportunities, adoption awareness, and availability. We believe every child needs a HERO, wants a HERO, and is looking for a HERO. We believe that HERO is YOU. Let us help you get connected to the child who needs you."

You can check out their website (just click on the OH button on the right) to see some of the truly amazing ways they carry out their mission.  One of the ways is by helping adoptive families raise funds to help in their adoption.  They have a store with a variety of cool merchanise: t-shirts, note cards, jewelry, etc.  I'd like to get a couple of those guitar ties for our boys! But you can also purchase items that will directly benefit children in developing countries.  This is so cool:  you could buy a sheep and feed forty children!  When you check out, if you click on "Angela Anderson," 40% of the cost would go directly to our adoption agency to help fund our adoption.

Finally, is 147 Million Orphans.  The link is not there right now, but should be up in a couple days, when my in-home computer programmer has a moment to add some html.  They also have items for sale:  I love the Ugandan bead necklaces and Katie Davis' book!  Funds raised support those in poverty and can also help families raise funds for their adoptions.  If you click on "Angela Anderson" at check out, 30% goes to our agency for our adoption.

I don't really like asking for things, but I love these organizations and the work that they are doing to shrink our world, raise our awareness, and lighten the burdens of the poor.