So what happened? Although they already had three kids, they followed God's guidance and adopted an African orphan. Suddenly, everything was different.

"Our family had grown with the light of a busy, passionate toddler," writes Jennie. "I had thought we were laying down our lives for him, and instead he breathed life and joy into us.

"I had a job — a pretty demanding one where I poured out words almost daily, telling about my Jesus." Her days were spent torn between training the child how to speak English and use a fork, while meeting her own professional deadlines "and trying to explain invisible, important things in writing. I never would have dreamed any of this two years ago.

"Our church had changed.  As Zac prayed about his future and the church he had poured into and dreamed of for years, God began leading him and the elders to consider partnering with another church to more fully reach the city. Zac let go of directional leadership of the church. It was a little death for the sake of forever.

"Our priorities changed too. We were praying about moving to a less expensive house and doing things like canceling cable so we could spend less" because they wanted to keep taking their children to the Third World to see life there. Jennie remembers: "I wanted to sponsor every child I could rather than have our lives be perfectly comfortable.

"My days, Zac’s days, my family, and Christmas  cards changed forever, all because of a prayer:"

Anything.