And we wait...

Our adoption has been anything but smooth and I am in complete agreement with others who have reminded me that adoption in not for the faint of heart. We have heard more than once, "well, that is new" or "we have never experienced this before." These are not statements you want to hear during your adoption. I also know that God called us to adopt and we are glad. Our biggest blow came last Friday. After waiting weeks and weeks for birth certificates, weeks for passports and still weeks to be submitted to the embassy, we finally "got submitted" on May 31. We had been told things were moving fairly quickly for the embassy and we were hopeful to hear quickly that we were clear to travel. The words we have been waiting 3 months to hear. We did receive an email from the embassy on Friday morning June 10 but it was not the one I was hoping for. Instead, it requested a meeting with Emnet's birth mother in order to prevent a further field investigation. What? What is this? Why? Then the tears came. I must say, although I have had many ups and downs, my tears had been reserved for one day in Ethiopia until now. Questions flooded my mind along with doubts. What if they couldn't find her birth mother, what if she refused and what if something is really wrong. Ethiopia has already declared her our child, so what would this mean? Could Emnet be a child with no family or country? Heartbreak. We spoke to our case worker who said the words I didn't want to hear, "this has never happened before." He also assured me that they would work to resolve this quickly. My heart was also breaking for Emnet's birth mother. She already gave up her daughter and told her story and now she was going to have to do it again. It isn't like they could call her up and ask her to appear before the embassy. They would need to travel 5 hours to a village with a translator to try and find her and if she agreed, set up a time with the embassy. Here is a praise....they did. We got a call Monday morning that she had been found and an appointment has been made with the embassy for next Monday June 20. When we were traveling to Ethiopia to meet our children the news had just been released that there was a slow down in the processing of adoptions. Again fear and doubt filled me. On the plane I was reading in Romans 4 where Paul recounts Abraham and Sarah waiting to become parents and it says Abraham "hoped against hope." This delay does not make sense to me, but my doubt shows my lack of trust in a sovereign God. Galatians 6:9 says "Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It is the "proper time" I am having trouble with, but God is faithful and He is good and He loves me and Emnet and her birth mother far more than I can imagine. Please pray for these precious children my heart is longing for.

Ement's dress was on backwards, so funny

Kaleb's bed at Tikuret