Praying for Cairo

Last night I went to a prayer meeting for a team of men and women who will be going on a missions trip to Cairo, Egypt next week - a team that includes my husband.

L has traveled quite a bit in our five years of marriage, both nationally and internationally, so I'm already praying about a few major things that affect us each time he's gone:

1 - Our little one. Though I'm getting more used to the feeling of doing life without his physical presence for a few days, she is (I think) going to miss him more than she ever has. She is really starting to develop a sweet relationship with her daddy, and has learned that he is the giver of life in regards to playing, laughing, and being silly together. And because she thrives on those things, it's going to be tough to not have him around for twelve days.

2 - A spirit of humility. It's tough to submit to the fact that, for twelve days, God has designed that there are more important places for my husband and E's daddy to be than home with us. We need him here, we want him here - he is vitally important to our home. So it's difficult to submit to God and allow my husband to serve others instead of us for a brief time. (It sounds horribly selfish to say, doesn't it? Oh well...it's the honest truth).

3 - A spirit of dependence. This is probably the biggest one for me. A true Type-A, it's easy for me to take control. When L is gone for an extended period of time, its easier to take control of his responsibilities and do it all myself than it is to lean on God and others and allow them to minister to me during his absence. What this effectively does is work L out of a job as a husband and a daddy (because I'm doing it all and therefore do not need his help), and makes it really tough for us to come back together as a team once he is home.

These are a few of the things that a sweet team of prayer warriors prayed over L and his team last night. Among the many other things were for God to do a mighty work in the hearts of the team members and those they are going to serve, for safe and efficient travels, and for peace and trust in times that things don't go as planned. These things I am lifting up to a mighty God Who goes before us and makes a way for his people, a loving God Who desires that the world may know Him, a good God who knows and provides for our every need even before we know it ourselves.