Posts Tagged ‘adoption prayer’

 

Shemot 5775: In Praise of Adoption

Posted on: January 8th, 2015 by Alden

Cousin Kid Group HugExodus begins with extraordinary examples of care for children: midwives Shiphrah and Puah refuse Pharoah’s order to kill newborn males; then, Moses is adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and nursed by his birth-mother. This week’s Torah prayer praises adoption. It’s the second in a new series on adoption that will appear in my forthcoming book Prayers for Healing the World. Optional language is shown in [brackets] and word choices are identified with a slash (/). Here’s my prayer “To Adopt a Child.”

In Praise of Adoption
G-d of Mercy,
Source of love and shelter,
Bless those who have taken children as their own,
Into their lives, into their homes,
With compassion and care,
Healing the world one small soul at a time.
Bless their lives with wisdom and strength,
Kindness and care,
So their children will be nurtured,
Protected and educated,
With joy and wonder.
Bless these families with health and safety,
Happiness and well-being.

Source of Life,
Bless those who hope to adopt,
Those who have waited
With anticipation [and with disappointment]
As the adoption process moves slowly, step-by-step.
Let the loving hand of adoption bring their lives
The richness of [family/a growing family],
The joys and challenges of parenting.
Bless, too, those who work and advocate
For children and for adoption.
May their energy and effort
Be a source of healing.

Father of the fatherless,
Mother of the motherless,
We are all Your children.
Watch over children and youth still waiting for families,
Still in need of hope and shelter,
And bring them speedily to a home of love and care.
Let Your light shine upon them.
Let Your mercy heal them.
Look with special favor on the children who
Are often left behind: orphans of war,
Children with special needs,
Youths and teens, children of color.

Holy One,
Bring the day when all children will know
The love of parents and the joy of family.
For wholeness.
For healing.
For peace.

© 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Here’s a link to the prayer I posted for Shemot 5773, “Finding G-d.” Nine pregnancy and fertility prayers appear in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing, including: “For Pregnancy,” “Loss of Pregnancy” and “Loss of Pregnancy (Husband/Partner).” Other prayers about family include: “On the Birth of a Child” and “On the Birth of Grandchildren.” For more prayers about family, click here.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. Please take a moment to explore my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Source: Adoptive Families Circle

To Adopt a Child

Posted on: November 19th, 2013 by Alden

struggle-part-of-storyThis is a prayer to be used by those seeking to adopt a child. It’s a new prayer in the general theme of the journey to parenthood. Nine pregnancy and fertility prayers appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. The choices for customizing this prayer an attempt to recognize a wide variety of family circumstances in adoption, such as: singles, gay couples and families that already have children. Word choices are identified with a slash (/) and optional lines are shown in [brackets].

To Adopt a Child
Ancient One,
G-d of hope,
How I/we yearn for a/another child!
I/We have prayed,
I/We have cried,
I/We have shown my/our sorrow to heaven,
[As I/we moved through fertility treatments],
As I/we strive to be called mother/father/mother and father
To a child,
A shining light of Your creation.

G-d of Old,
Grant me/us the wisdom to be gentle with myself/ourselves
In time of longing.
Bless me/us with courage and wisdom,
With patience and with understanding.
[Bless my/our children with a deep sense of my/our abiding love.]
Let me/us feel Your divine presence in these hours of waiting,
These days of hoping,
These months, perhaps years, of praying.

Bless me/us with a child,
With the gift of generations,
With the gift of love,
So that I/we may become a well of gifts
For a precious child, a soul in need.

Blessed are You, Source of life.
Hear this prayer.

© 2013 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: Here are related prayers regarding pregnancy and fertility: “For Pregnancy,” “Loss of Pregnancy” and “Loss of Pregnancy (Husband/Partner).” Here are others about family: “On the Birth of a Child” and “On the Birth of Grandchildren.” For more prayers about family, click here.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. Please take a moment to explore my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Source: Mommy Run Fast

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