Father, for 10 years I’ve been married to the woman you gave me.  She has tried and tried, and is yet to train me…!  but I know I can be the leader I must be.  I wake up some mornings and wonder if I’m not the man I wanted to become.  But through the cross, I rest assured that faith overcomes.  My son whom I held and prayed to you for is now 6, and he humbles me every day.  He is a handsome, healthy, Godly young child who wants to make his Mama and Daddy proud.  He loves to laugh, loves to play, and loves to spend time with Daddy.  But Lord I’m not the pillar I need to be.  So often the time passes and I have lost grounding with the shifting sand, the time passing by, and the insecurity of the last year specifically.

You’ve answered so many prayers.  You have given, and given, and still I do not appreciate.  Father, forgive my past.  Forgive the days of no productivity and empower me to overcome.  Satan’s attacks are so real, and so penetrating.  His attempts to pull me down are never about my strength, but about my focus, my willpower to overcome, and my lack of solidarity.  Restore my spirit, Lord, with your Spirit once again.  The spirit that I once used to study for hours on end.  To read, the meditate, and pray.  Lord, send your rain to bring life again to the seeds of my heart.

Father, I am challenged by my daughter.  She is so full of life, such an amazing vitality for a 3 year old.  She has a strong will, and does not possess the simple humble spirit that her brother did.  Help me to remember they are different, and give me the patience to instruct the way she should go.  She tests me, and I often get angry.  I don’t know the best way to train her, to help her in correction, and straighten her paths when they seem crooked for a young child.  I love her so much and want her to be all she can be.  Father help Elizabeth & I to help them remain as stable as they can with their adoption, their identity, and never question their parents pure agape love.

Finally, help me be the man my wife fell in love with.  I’ve disappointed her sometimes, I’ve been less than my best, less that I know I should be too often.  Yet she confesses failure too and we are closer than we’ve ever been.  Lord, stabilize the ground under my feet, and help me to plant my feet at the cross which is the strongest foundation for my life.  I love you, Lord, but help me to show it, by being what you want me to be in my new job, as well as a husband and father.  In humble thanks and yearning for the future, help me to lean on the Master more every day.  In His name, amen.