Reality Check

So this is what I know.  I know that a couple years ago there were some agencies in Ethiopia that weren't being super ethical.   Because of this adoptions in Ethiopia were getting a lot of attention, not the good kind.  The result is officials at the US embassy investigating cases more thoroughly and sending them on to the people at USCIS who have more authority when they are not satisfied with the results of the investigation.  What I also know is that in some cases adoptive families have, rightfully so, been very frustrated with the way the embassy is going about this task.  It doesn't take a genius to draw a very sad conclusion here.  If logistics of adoption are slack it opens up big doors for child trafficking (despite adoptive families intentions of adopting a "true" orphan).  If logistics of adoption are too tight it means children spending longer in orphanages or worse promises a life of institution or poverty for children who don't have enough paperwork to back up their status as orphan under US law.  When I think of babies being caught up in either side of this my heart is broken.
What I also know though is that God's word is true and I can trust in His promises.  This is not always easy, in fact at times in life it's very hard to do.   Hebrews 11:1-3 says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the people of old received their commendation.  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible."  I have been earnestly and continually praying for God to work a miracle and bring my boy home in a crazy short amount of time.  At times, it has been more of a cry than anything else, claiming truths in God's word and wondering why it wasn't working in my box of a time frame.  Doesn't God know how much I want Noah to be home, doesn't He know that an orphanage is no place for a baby, doesn't He know that my life is on hold waiting for an email to get on a plane, doesn't He know that my good friend who is traveling with me is under the same hesitation to make any major commitment?  Oh ridiculously selfish me! Of course He knows! Of course the God who spoke the world into existence knows all of these things.  The question is what do I know?  Do I know that God is faithful, do I know that He loves Noah more than I do, do I know that God left the throne and came down to earth as a baby and died a brutal death so that I might have hope in eternal life?  Do I know that His word is true and I can claim it's promises?  Of course I know these things.  Over and over God has shown me that He is faithful, that He brings me through times when I can't carry my own weight, that His plan is far better than what I could work out for myself.
Yesterday, my sweet Bella Kate was very sick and she brought me a reality check.  She hadn't kept anything solid down all day and asked me for a chocolate cookie and ice cream cone.  I told her no I was making her homemade chicken noodle soup, didn't that sound good?  Nope, she wanted a chocolate cookie and ice cream cone.  But because I love her very much and did not want her to suffer the consequences of revisiting a chocolate cookie and ice cream cone, that would be far worse than the pleasure of eating them, I did not give in.  She could have chicken noodle soup.  I promised her when she was better she could have those things.  She was skeptical and I got the vibe that she felt I was denying her a great pleasure.  She had asked me early in the day, "Mommy, will you take good care of me today?" I of course told her yes, I would do everything I could to make her feel better.  In her almost 4 year old way I wonder if she was reconsidering that answer.  If I was going to take good care of her why wouldn't I give her what she wanted?!?  Because, I, maker of the ice cream cone, could see something she couldn't see and I want what is best for her.  I thought to myself, why doesn't she know that?  Her whole life I have met her needs, given her things, loved her.  Doesn't she know I wouldn't deny her anything if I didn't have a good reason?  I almost laughed out loud.  I am worse than a 4 year old when it comes to questioning God's plan, protection, and provision.
I know that God is capable of intervening in Addis Ababa and getting our case cleared  and it wouldn't make the top 10 of God's greatest miracles.  It would be nothing.  I will keep asking Him to do so.  But from life experience and from promises I hold in my heart I trust His plan.  If you had told me 8 years ago that at my age I would be bringing home my 3rd child from Ethiopia and would be married for almost 6 years I would have laughed and called you crazy!  Thankfully, God blessed me in spite of my attitude and in spite of my heart.  The blessings are far greater than any plan I could conjure up on my own.  Like I said, it's not always easy but that's okay.  Easy isn't one of the promises I hold in my heart.

There is a lot more that I do not know, than what I do know.  I do not know when Noah will come home, or why it is taking so long, what the embassy will do after this.  But I will end with a quote that is true to what I do know from Elisabeth Elliot's book "Through Gates of Splendor".  I just finished it and it's a great read if you are looking for something.  She writes after her husband's death, "God is the God of human history, and He is at work continuously, mysteriously, accomplishing His eternal purposes in us, through us, for us, and in spite of us." Thankful for what He accomplishes in spite of me.

Encouraged

Yep, after my pity party blog I wrote last time this one is about how encouraged I am.  Do I still painstakingly miss my son? Yes.  Do I still grieve over this time apart and continually pray that he will be to his forever home ASAP? Absolutely.  But let me tell you why this grief and sadness, oddly enough give me a little bit of comfort and encouragement.  It goes back to God's awesome Word and it was delivered to my ears by this great pastor I know.  You should go to this link and listen to it and tell all your friends to listen to it as well.  Be ready to be convicted and maybe, like me, a little encouraged.

www.fchope.com/resources/podcast   Click the January 8, 2012-The Movement-Series No. 14

PS if you're reading this because you're in the adoption world you should listen to the one from January 15th too.

So one morning last week I was feeling particularly sad so I went to the gym.  May sound weird but it works for me.  While I was running I listened to Jon Akin preach from Acts 7 & 8 about Stephen preaching this great sermon and the people stoning him to death.  You're already encouraged, I know :)  I came away with a few truths.
1. I am not really suffering at this moment.  Yes I am sad at times, justifiably so.  But as I was listening to this I was literally running on a treadmill.  If I was suffering I would not have been able to run on a treadmill.  (The other truths are not quite so obvious!)

2. Jesus does not promise or encourage a comfortable life.  Stephen was stoned to death because he was being obedient to what God had called him to do.  While the Bible does tell us to care for orphans and we are adopting out of obedience to what God has called us to do, it does not say adopt and the process will go smoothly and you'll have no heartache in it.  This has been an incredibly  hard journey at times, and this is the hardest part of it all.  But there is hope in the third truth.

3. The third point in the sermon was What if being like Jesus means God uses your suffering for good? While we've already concluded that I am not really suffering, if I were going to call it that there is something very good that is going to come from it.  We are being blessed with a son.  Noah is given a forever family.  And if we go beyond that I'll share something with you that happens frequently in the Jenkins family.  Frequently, Dan prays that God will use our children to take the Gospel to the nations.  Often he prays that Noah will come to know Christ and take the gospel back to Ethiopia and see his birth nation inherit eternal life.  If I'm being honest, sometimes I cringe at this prayer because I would love to grow old and have all my children and grandchildren over for dinner every Sunday.  But that's not a biblical truth.  I'm trying to be more eternally minded like my husband.  So this hard time, this crazy journey will not only bring a son into a family, it could eventually bring about people hearing about Jesus for the first time.

4.This time apart from Noah will soon end.  My sweet friend (who is this pastor's wife) told me a day or two before I listened to this sermon that next Christmas will be here before we know it and we'll look back at this time as a quick blur.  This time that I long for my son to be home is nothing compared to what we hope is an eternal impact on one little boy and all the people that he shares that with.

I'm not trying to compare my "suffering" with Stephen's suffering.  I'm convicted about wanting to be more like Jesus.  But my encouragement came in that adoption is not just about now.  Raising kids in general is not just about getting them to 18 and hoping the best.  It's about having an eternal impact on them.  I'm encouraged that this time will soon pass and Noah will be home.  I'm so thankful for the sweet Akin family and how they are such an encouragement to us and speak truth into our lives.

Court and Life After

December 22, 2011 will forever be a celebratory day in the Jenkins family.  I was up so early that day with nervousness and excitement.  I prayed Deuteronomy 10:17 & 18 for Noah, "For the Lord your God is the God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.  He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing."  I appealed to God's sovereignty and begged Him to give Noah justice that day as a fatherless child.  God heard my prayer and that day around 10am Noah was no longer an orphan but a very loved son.  


I have never been in a court room in the US and the only images in my mind are the ones on TV.  This courthouse was nothing special.  You could easily drive by it and not notice it.  Up on the third floor we waited in a room lined with chairs with 50 other people.  I wondered if any of the young women were there to relinquish rights to their child, I was heartbroken for them.  We didn't wait long and soon all four families there with our agency were taken into a smaller room lined with chairs where we all sat down.  A beautiful Ethiopian woman sat behind a very ordinary desk.  The judge's "court room" was simple and sort of run down.  She called out the names of our children.  She asked all of us simple questions and we answered in unison.  She explained how important it was that we know that this is irreversible and permanent (Praise the Lord!).  She also encouraged us to teach our children about Ethiopia.  Then she said, "All your paperwork is in place, congratulations, they are yours." And we all left the room.  I was in awe of God who looked over every piece of paperwork and every hand that touched our case. It was final, he is our son!  Here's a few pictures of us on court day.

We spent the next day loving on our sweet guy and preparing to head back to the states.  I knew what lay ahead but my heart was broken.  Betty had told me at lunch that she could see I was sad.  I fed Noah and rocked him to sleep that night.  I had to go get ready for the airport and I was so overwhelmed I gave Noah to Dan and went to our room.  I simply could not hand him back to his nanny.  Moms can you imagine?? Can you imagine handing your 3 day old back to the doctor until your birth certificate or social security number came through?? It was the hardest thing I've ever done.  (Y'all give my husband some sympathy for putting up with me on the plane ride home.) And lets be real.  If we had the funds and I could convince my husband I would get on a plane tonight, leave the girls in the care of their dad and gran, and stay there until he could come home.  


The only word that can even come close to how I feel is grief.  I don't know if I have ever really grieved over anything before, but I am over this time apart from my son.  I realize he doesn't know any better, but I do.  I'm grieved over very painful parts of his past that one day I'll have to tell him.  Putting all his sweet things away fills me with such sadness that he is so far from me and in an orphanage I feel paralyzed.  The transition house is incredible.  The nannies love those babies and the director's wife checks on them every day.  But my son is in an orphanage.  His paper work is in the process of being changed over to our last name and his passport is being made with our name and he is being medically cleared by the US, again.  So we are waiting.  And once again I am praying the same prayer that I did the morning of court.  That the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who is bigger than the US embassy, would bring about a miracle and get my Noah home in an amount of time that could only be the result of God bringing justice to the fatherless.  He is capable and I am asking.  


I would like to tell you that I came across a verse or a person said something so inspirational to me that I can carry on joyfully and trusting in the Lord's perfect timing to bring Noah home.  But it isn't true.  It's not that I haven't looked or haven't listened.  I read about Hannah and how she had the son she had prayed for and gave him over to the Lord. I read about the lost son whose father rejoiced when he returned home (Let me tell you, there will be a celebration when Noah comes home!).  I listen to people tell me he'll be home soon, and he's so little he doesn't know.  It's all true.  But my heart still aches.  And it isn't that I don't trust God's timing.  I thought about God adopting me and making me His daughter.  That He sacrificed so much more than I am sacrificing to be Noah's mom.  He let Jesus die for me.  Nothing compares to that.  I wonder if God feels this way when we become His children and just stay where we were and like we were before we became His children.  If we are content to stay in an orphanage like setting because all of our basic needs are met because we are too scared to be obedient and go do what God, who loves His children, has called us to do.  I wonder if He is grieved at all the blessings we are missing.  I'm grieved at all Noah is missing, every day he is missing love from his mom and dad and sisters.  He's missing what it means to be in a family.  I'm grieved over all I'm missing, his smiles and giggles every day, how he's growing.  The difference is Noah can't decide for himself.  He's where he is because of logistics of government.  But probably if we could explain it to him, he might resist.  Hey little guy would you like to be handed over to strangers who don't look anything like you, get in steel box for 17 hours, and go live far away where you don't understand what anyone is saying?  He might rather stay were he is comfortable and where he thinks all his needs are being met.  But we know we have something far greater to offer him and can't wait to bring him home.  Noah doesn't have the option like we do or like the lost son in Luke did.  I just wonder how much I'm missing out on by thinking all my needs are being met, I must be just where God has me to be.  When God has so much more if we are willing to follow Him, to go far away from home, from what we know and love and find comfort in.  Oh the blessings that must be in store.  So maybe I lack faith in trusting God's timing or maybe I love Noah like I'm supposed to love my son and can't wait to celebrate his homecoming.  


I mean check him out...can you blame me??

This is him in his Christmas pajamas holding a picture of his sisters.  Can't wait for all of them to be together.  As Bella Kate almost daily says, "Noah will be so happy to see me!"

Meetcha Day!

It's been a while.  Since we returned home on Christmas Eve things have been crazy! We celebrated the birth of our Savior and tried to figure out what time it was.  We visited family out of town and had some sickness.  Now life is starting to get back into a groove.  It's important that I write about our trip, where our adoption is and how I'm feeling about it.  It's important for Noah one day and I hope to be an encouragement to other adoptive families, as well as paint a realistic picture.  The times I have picked up the computer to write I haven't found the words.  But I'm going to give it a try.

We landed in beautiful Ethiopia on Tuesday, December 20th about 8am.  The bright African sun and warm breeze were so welcome after the very long flight.  Standing in line to get our visa was an appropriate depiction of African time and culture.  There were two men sitting at a table hand writing visas for the 100 plus people in line.  They were not in hurry.  They were not being lazy either.  They had their work in front of them and took a pace that we might consider slow and went about what they had to do.  I love Africa and I love the people.  We laughed as we watched the man write out my visa and pause to chat with the other man then continue writing.  We finally got through the line and headed to get our luggage.  We made our way out and standing in front of the many people waiting was Woudneh, our in country director.  What a welcome site!  He got us to the car where our driver took us to the transition house.  We pulled in the gate and I saw a beautiful little garden that welcomed us into the guest house.  I was yards away from our son.  All I wanted to do was go and squeeze him.   But because Ethiopians are so hospitable we had to eat first.  A very delicious breakfast was served of eggs and homemade bread.  Then sweet Betty (Woudneh's wife) came in and I told her we were waiting to meet Noah.  She said, "Oh, I will go get him."  I could have kissed her!  So we waited...a little excitedly!

And I know we look awesome...please remember that we just got off an almost 13 hour flight and it was about 2 am our time!  And No we did not realize that we both had on red until we looked at the pictures :)

Then I saw him, reached for him, and he smiled!  My breath was taken away and I was in love.

 Our precious son, a gift from God was finally in my arms.  He is beautiful and perfect.  He smiled and laughed and played with my hair.  I gave him lots of kisses and squeezes.  Mostly I just stared.  Because for 10 months we have been praying for this sweet boy, praying for his birth mom and his journey to get home to us.  At that time he was still in the womb.  Now he was in my arms and I could not have been more elated.  

I do realize he has on pink, I promise he is a boy!  They don't really have gender identity like we do with color and it's an orphanage....you have to use what you have.  

After I caught my breath and thanked God for blessing us with this sweet boy I let Dan hold him a little :) 

We spent the day loving on Noah, feeding him, rocking him to sleep.  It was perfection. 

It only took an hour for me to get spit up on (it was a little more extreme but I'll save you the details) so I took the opportunity to put him in a "boy" shirt.

This one melts my heart...wish I was there right now.

After Noah went back to the nanny for the night Woudneh and Betty took all the families to a traditional Ethiopian dinner.  The food was AMAZING and the entertainment was great.  It's probably a good thing there was singing and dancing because Dan and I were about fall face forward asleep.  Here's a picture of us at dinner.

It was one of the most beautiful perfect days in my life.  I had anticipated it for months and holding him for the first time brought on emotions that have no words.  Just like when the doctor handed me our girls.  It was love.  Hopefully I'll get to write more about the rest of our trip and court date soon!  Please keep praying that Noah will be in my arms forever very soon.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Hang through this friends....it's going somewhere.  Last night Bella Kate (who is 3) and I were playing on the deck waiting for Dan to get home.  She got in her Little Tikes Coupe and said, "I'm going to school Mom, see ya later!"  I laughed as she "locked" her door and put on her imaginary seat belt.  "Tell me to be careful!" She cried like I was totally neglecting my motherly duties.  I told her to be careful and have fun.  Off she went to the other end of the deck.  She got out and "played at school" for a few minutes then hopped back in and Flinstoned it back to me.  "I'm home!" (I hope she is always this enthusiastic to get home) "How was school?" I asked her.  "Oh, it was fine." with this very grown up voice. Suddenly, flashing before my eyes was a 16 year old girl pulling into the drive way, telling me school was fine that day.  Ugh.  While I have hopes and dreams for my kids to grow up to be independent, go to college, get married, and have a family of their own, the reality of how quickly that will actually happen sometimes becomes very clear.  She will not be under our authority for that long.  I need to be busy and purposeful with the time I have to guide her and teach her.
It seems that not that long ago every event that I longed for took fooorrreeevvverrrrr to get here.  I didn't get it when grown ups said, "When you're older, time flies."  And while I believe the Bible is true and accurate I didn't get it in James when it says "...you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.."  Really? 70 years seems like a really really long time when I just can't wait for (insert Christmas, graduation, wedding, baby, etc).  But in the grand scheme of thousands of years of history on Earth and then go ahead and throw in eternity, 70 years is truly a mist.  While I do need to stay on it for the 20ish years I have to train up my kiddos, what about staying purposeful for my God?
I told you you're going to have to stick with me.  This is supposed to be about adoption, right?  Adopting internationally has brought on a lot more criticism, from strangers and family, both directly and indirectly, than I expected it to.  Recently said of me, "She doesn't know what she's getting herself into." and how "You're not doing your girls any favors." At first, comments like this would make my skin want to melt off from the blood boiling underneath.  But now I'm just letting them know they need to take it up with God, because their problem is really with His command and His word, not with me.  The one that makes me laugh the most is, "You really want more kids after this?  I mean in this economy that's (insert ridiculous, crazy, brave(but not in a good way))."  They usually follow up with, "yeah, we might do that someday."  Now before I go on, there is a time to do things, and I'm not discounting that, 2 years ago would not have been the time for us to adopt.  BUT why are we waiting?  We are adopting for a lot of reasons, but at the core of it is Jesus changed our lives by adopting us and God's word says to care for orphans.  We have 70 years (give or take on average) to do what God has commanded us to do.   I don't just mean adoption.  I don't think adopting is a command, but caring for orphans is.  There are lots of ways to do that.  But either we believe what the Bible says or we don't.  We make the dangerous assumption (especially in the part of the country that I live in) that just because you recognize that Jesus is the Son of God you assume that you have a relationship with Him and are forgiven.  Even demons in the New Testament would call Jesus out on who He is, and they were afraid because the knew the authority He had.  They recognized who He is, but they certainly will not spend eternity with Him in heaven.  So we believe in God? James says even demons believe in God and shudder.  It takes us recognizing that we are separated from God, we have messed up, and need to not only recognize who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross but recognize we need forgiveness and get that by grace through faith.  Then if that's true for us we need to get busy.  There will never be a perfect time to share the gospel, adopt an orphan, go on a mission trip, live overseas.  Satan will always provide you an excuse.  But if we believe what the Bible says, our life has changed because of Jesus Christ.  If our life has really changed, don't we want others lives to change too?  There are places so desperate for the gospel.  They can't wait until we are retired and our kids are in college to hear.  A couple generations will be gone by then.
When I was in Ghana working at a hospital I was overwhelmed by physical death.  Babies, kids, young adults, every day dying.  It took me months of being home to shake some of the the things I had seen.  But I'm surrounded by spiritual death constantly and I don't blink an eye.  So while my time is flying, what am I going to do with it?  Because soon I'll vanish.
Thanks for hanging through this my bloggy friends.  This isn't for you, it's for me.  Now I need to get off here and get busy!

Ladies & Gentleman, We Have A COURT DATE!!!

Can you feel the enthusiasm of my title?!??!  Three weeks ago I saw his precious face for the first time and in 5 weeks and 5 days I get to hold him in my arms. My heart is overflowing with joy! You all who read my last post know I was praying to see my son this year and I asked you to pray for the same.  I'm so thankful that God has answered this prayer.  
Our court date is December 22nd!!! WAAHOOO!!
While this is what I was praying for, it wasn't super realistic of me.  To be assigned a court date as fast as we did and have one assigned just over a month from now is a blessing from the Lord, I will give Him the glory for the most wonderful Christmas present a mom could ask for!


So today I've been a busy bee.  We are working on our travel itinerary with an agency, I made our appointments at the travel clinic for vaccines, looked into travel insurance, made a list of documents we needed, and reviewed our travel pack from West Sands. I also realized this afternoon that since we will be getting home on Christmas Eve, I not only have 5 weeks to get everything in order for us to leave the country for the week, I only have 5 weeks to get everything ready for Christmas! Although, there is potential the Jenkins may be celebrating Christmas on December 26th so mom and dad will actually be awake and able to remember it! So if I lose my train of thought while talking to you it's because I'm mentally crossing off and adding to my to-do list (or just day dreaming about holding my little man :) 


What happens now...(I'll be so happy when the only thing left to happen is be a forever family!)


December 12th: Preliminary hearing in Ethiopia.  They review our paper work and little man's paper work.  We get travel clearance or request correction to documents. (We are praying for clearance!!)


December 18th: Fly to D.C.
December 19th: Fly to Ethiopia
December 20th: Hold on to and cuddle our little guy!!! Happy Day!
December 22nd: Court!!
December 23rd: Leave Ethiopia
December 24th: Home to our girls 


Noah has still has not been moved to the transition home.  So at some point between now and December 20th he will be moved.  Please pray for him to get there soon and safely.  I'll be one relieved mama when he gets there.


Please pray that our MOWA (they write a supportive letter to the judge that we are clear to adopt Noah, without that letter our case cannot be final) letter is there and that when we leave Ethiopia Noah is our son.  The longer the letter takes, the longer it will be until he is home.  


Obviously flying in December has weather risks.  We are asking the Lord to hold off a white Christmas until Christmas day :) 


So thankful and excited to bring Noah home!  So thankful for our friends and family who have been so encouraging and supportive!  We love you all and can't express our gratitude.  Please keep praying for our little guy.  That he stays safe and healthy. That someone is loving on him today, that he is well fed, and clean.  We can't wait for you to meet him!


My turn of "what I'm thankful for" at Thanksgiving might take a while :) 

We Have a Son!!

We are sooo thrilled to have received the referral for our son!! We set out on this journey expecting to go from a family of 4 to a family of 6 overnight.  While we still plan on “making it 2 less orphans & 2 more Jenkins” it looks like we are going to do it one at a time.  Changes at the US embassy in Ethiopia along with other factors contributed to this change of plans but I’ll get on to the reason you all are reading…our son!

Thursday Dan was at work and I was teaching a nursing clinical at a downtown hospital.  I walked to the local farmers market in the cold to get a yummy lunch and was trying to find a quiet place to eat when I checked my phone only to find a missed call from our agency.  Last Wednesday marked our dossier being in country 6 months, the day had passed with a little disappointment that we still had no referral.  So of course I called our coordinator back immediately.  We discussed a few things and she said, “Well I have a little boy who needs a home.”  “Well, we want to give him one!"  I told Lesley I’d go plug my computer in and call her right back.  I found a tiny room in the back of the medical library and plugged my computer in (it took forever to come on and load my email!!).  I called Dan and caught him up to speed and we conference called Lesley (Yay for iphones).  By this time Dan’s email was already up and I could hear his enthusiasm as he went on about how cute our little boy is.  My email FINALLY loaded and I got my first look at our little guy.  He’s currently about 4 months old and in an orphanage about 8 hours from the capital.  We went over some things about his short little life and excitedly accepted the referral. 

This day has long been anticipated and I had imagined how I would feel in those moments. The happiness, anticipation, and gratefulness to our God, an amazing provider, was overwhelming.  He is so precious.  He has curly hair, chubby cheeks, and lips that kind of look like our oldest daughter’s.  We can’t publicly post pictures of him until he’s legally ours, but if I see you I’ll have his picture out before you can ask!  We have also decided what his name will be.  Officially, his first name will be Noah, which means rest/comfort.  We are praying those things for him while he is still so far from home.

When we got home Thursday we showed the girls his picture.  Bella Kate said “He’s so cute! Where’s his mommy and daddy?”  I explained to her that I am his mommy and Dan is his daddy.  She looked at me like I was crazy! But now when she walks past his picture on the fridge she is very excited to announce, “That’s my brother, baby Noah!” Claire also learned how to say “brother” and I love that she is now a big sister!  We were not anticipating an infant.  We were really expecting a toddler.  But I know C is going to make a great big sister!

So what now?  We got our contract notarized Friday and mailed to our agency.  We contacted Show Hope and Lifesong, who have graciously partnered with us financially, to let them know to send funds to our agency.  Now we wait.  Again.  We should be “filed” this week, meaning our paperwork gets together with little guy’s paperwork and we wait for a court date.  Two to four weeks after we are filed we should be assigned a court date.  Then we will travel to Ethiopia and meet Noah!!! We will go to court and he will be legally our son.  (Insert WOOOHOOO here).  Then we wait.  Yep.  Wait.  Again.  Then he will get a new birth certificate with our name on it, a passport, exit/entry visas, and we will wait to be cleared by the US embassy in Ethiopia.  Once that takes place (8-10) weeks after court) we will go and bring him home to his forever family. 

I thought I would let you know what we are praying for our sweet Noah so you can join us in praying for him too!

First, he has to make the 8 hour journey to the transition house where he will stay until we bring him home.  This 8 hour journey is not like a ride on the interstate.  The roads are poor (as in dirt).  There are no car seats or airbags.  So please pray that he gets moved soon and gets there safely. 

Second, we are praying for a speedy court date! We want our little guy home ASAP.  Specifically, we are praying to pass court this year.  So not only would that mean going to court but that MOWA would have our approval letter in our file on our court date.  Without that letter, our case is not final. 

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.  We can’t wait for you to meet our son!