Lord, meet me, join me. Make my aim, Lord, this Advent to bring joy to you through the giving of myself–my time, my plans, my agenda–for you to use. My gift of myself to you must take priority over my gifts to my family and friends. After all, it is your birthday we are celebrating–not mine, not my children’s, not my husband’s, not my friends’–your birthday, Lord. Part of my gift to you is loving the people you have put in front of me–those who are easy to love and those who are not. I want to give you my response to lonely people around the world–the orphan, the widow, the ones who are all alone, the ones who others have passed by. But, I do not know how to respond. Forgive me when I do not take the opportunities you have put in front of me to do it. Help me, Lord, to be able to do it.

Keep at the front of my mind that the cleaning of my spiritual house must take priority over the cleaning of my physical one, that nourishing my family’s souls is more important than holiday meals, that encouraging peace and harmony in my home is more beautiful than twinkling lights. Remind me, Lord, that in-filling times alone with you must happen alongside outpouring times with others. Remind me, Lord, and enable me to act in obedience with that reminder.

May an awareness of your presence fill me every moment of my day so that rather than you being squeezed out of my busyness, I will be aware of you walking with me as my shepherd. You are the only one this Advent season who can help me find those ordinary yet amazing experiences of joy that you provide with such grace and mercy and love amongst all the responsibilities, pressures, and heartaches of this world.

Lord, meet me; join me; forgive me; enable me; remind me; be present with me; reveal yourself to me.
Amen.

1. Pray for me as I have some editing projects in front of me with deadlines quickly approaching. I am anxious to finish them before Christmas but find it hard to get undivided time to work (I know all you mommies out there know what I mean).
2. Pray for patience as I parent. I can so easily get frustrated when they “interfere” with my agenda. I want to be more flexible, more willing to put my tasks aside to tend to the kids’ needs.
3. Praise that Evan is now staying in the regular classroom for some language arts teaching! He is doing really well!
4. Praise for how God is leading us. I am feeling quite certain today that He is directing our path–what a comfort and joy to know this.

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I didn’t forget to post this yesterday. Just had a tough day which meant I didn’t really want to post this. Keepin’ it real, folks.

1. Keep praying for my sweet friend Jenna who is China now and just reached the last leg of their journey in Guangzhou. They are doing great–her new son is doing great. But, pray for them. They are homesick and ready to return to the good ole U. S. of A. Pray that their Father would sustain them these last days of their trip and reveal Himself to them in remarkable ways. 
2. Praise God for the MidAtlantic Orphan Summit. It was really good and got us really thinking about what God has called us to do. Pray that we’d have supernatural discernment in that. And, pray that Mark and I would be unified as a couple and that we’d see the difference between godly discontent and selfish discontent.

Click here to learn more about Thursday’s Things to Pray For. Pray for me, for these things I list. And, leave me a comment to let me know you did if you don’t mind. It would be a great encouragement. And, I invite you to do the same on your blog–haven’t had too many takers on this in weeks past. But, I still feel compelled to invite you to. Or, if you don’t want to link up, feel free to leave your prayer request as a comment here and I’ll lift it up.

<center><a href="http://www.raudenbushfamily.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/mkraudy/Prayerbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

If you do link up, grab this button above and add it to your blog post. All you have to do is highlight the code in the box above and paste it into your Thursday’s Things to Pray For post in the “edit HTML” tab wherever you want the button to appear.

Then, add your link to the list below. Just click on your own Thursday’s Things to Pray For post and copy the web address. That’s a direct link to the specific post (not just your blog in general). Then, paste that url address below. I’ll be sure to come by and pray for your requests too. (You may not see your own picture show up here–but it’ll be there for others to see. No worries.)

I skipped last week. Oops…

1. Prayer for my sweet friend Jenna who is China now and has just met her new son! She hasn’t updated her blog yet since she met him (I may start sending her mean emails if she doesn’t do it soon!). But, pray for them. He is a a preschooler, and she has her other two kiddos with them as well. So, lots of change and adjustments for all of them going on.
2. Praise that my voice is getting stronger every day. I’m still hoarse and particularly uncomfortable at night. But, it’s so much better. 
3. Pray for this weekend. Mark and I are going to the MidAtlantic Orphan Summit. I’m excited to hear the speaks and connect with other families there. Pray that we would hear God’s voice there and that the time would really be fruitful.

Click here to learn more about Thursday’s Things to Pray For. Pray for me, for these things I list. And, leave me a comment to let me know you did if you don’t mind. It would be a great encouragement. And, I invite you to do the same on your blog–haven’t had too many takers on this in weeks past. But, I still feel compelled to invite you to.

<center><a href="http://www.raudenbushfamily.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/mkraudy/Prayerbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Grab this button above and add it to your blog post. All you have to do is highlight the code in the box above and paste it into your Thursday’s Things to Pray For post in the “edit HTML” tab wherever you want the button to appear.

Then, add your link to the list below. Just click on your own Thursday’s Things to Pray For post and copy the web address. That’s a direct link to the specific post (not just your blog in general). Then, paste that url address below. I’ll be sure to come by and pray for your requests too.