Thanksgiving

Last week, KC, the boys, and I were able to take a quick picture and email it along with a note to our agency to give to Bertie. They in turn forwarded it to the team in Ethiopia to translate and email to the orphanage.

 

They had tried for the last several days to get the message sent, but the orphanages internet connectivity was down.

 

Amazingly, the orphanage manager was in Addis Ababa today for a meeting with our agency’s team. Our social worker Miss M. was able to give him the note and picture for her. He’ll be traveling back up north at the end of the week.

 

We're excited to say that Bertie will get our message and picture by the end of the week!! Miss M will call the orphanage next week to see how she received it and what she’s feeling.

 

I’m ever so thankful for technology and God’s perfect timing.

 

This has been a crazy, stressful, and trying few months. But you already knew that. To have something so big and important so close you can almost touch it, just to have it pulled away at the last second – it’s maddening to say the least. 

 

And it’s been like that every week for the last ten weeks.

 

Right now, everything is lining up perfectly for the head of MOWA to sign off on our case tomorrow. They are back in the office and our file should be the first one reviewed tomorrow. 

 

But, as we’ve seen the last few weeks, we know that it could still go either way. And with the American holiday at the end of the week, we could still be in limbo until next Monday. 

 

We're cautiously optimistic... But we will be so grateful if we hear good news tomorrow!

 

As it stands, we’re already excited that she’ll be able to get our note in a few days. We just stressed how much we love her, miss her, and can’t wait to see her.

 

Guys – she’s getting SO big. She’s lost a lot of her baby-ish features. AND she lost two of her bottom teeth!

 

We are also so thankful for Aubrey and her family. They have given us so much information to help the trip go smoother. They’ve shared additional pictures, videos, and tips with us. They even left us a little care package at the Bethany office in Ethiopia!

We're grateful to have advice from someone who was just there. 

 

So despite all the delays, setbacks, hurdles, and tears – we’re finding the blessings and silver linings in it all.

 

And despite all the delays, setbacks, hurdles, and tears… I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Even if you gave me full disclosure at the beginning, we'd still go through it all again. ❤️

  

  

The hard

I'm not gonna lie. Today was a bit rough. 

Guys. Adoption is hard. This is hard. Being halfway across the world away from your child is hard. 

Physically, emotionally, spiritually, and every other -ally. 

The last few weeks, I've tried very hard not to cry each time we heard bad news. I've done pretty well. 

But I think it was just damming all the emotions. Because this weekend was difficult. 

I didn't want to see anyone. I didn't want anyone to ask me questions. Because I didn't think I had enough strength to hold the tears in. 

Turns out, I didn't. 

As I was sitting in church today and the first song started in worship, I couldn't hold it in. And I didn't (for whatever reason I had in my mind) want to cry buckets of tears sitting on the front row. 

So I made my way to the bathroom as quickly as I could. And I cried in the stall for the remaining 2 songs. 

I freshened up and walked back out like I was fine and hoped that the message was something irrelevant. 

It wasn't. 

Pastor Casey asked us to open up to Luke 18:1. 

{Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.}

Not. Give. Up. 

Another translation says "not to lose heart". 

I couldn't help but bow my head and sigh. 

But it was what I needed to hear. 

I always question whether or not I should share so much with you guys.  But I always decide to, because I want you to understand (as best as you can seeing this from the outside) what we're feeling. 

I don't know what He's doing. I cannot imagine what the need would be for so many delays. 

But trying to figure it out wouldn't help. It would probably only make things harder. 

We may never know the reasons. And I'm becoming okay with that. 

We just have to make sure that we can dust ourselves off and keep trusting Him. 

It's hard. But I'm going to keep praying and hoping that this is the week. 

I'll do anything to hold her. And I know that will be one of our greatest moments. ❤️ 

  

  

Nine months

On Friday, February 7^th we first saw her face.

Today, Friday, November 7^th marks 9 months since that crazy happy day.

Here's a link to our video with a snippet of our reaction to "the call".

 It’s been a loooooong nine months. It's been a looooonnnnggg "pregnancy" - full of anticipation. 

Seriously, I think it will take everything in me not to run to her. I don't want to freak her out or anything you know.  ;-)

But we are so ready to hug her neck and never let go. <3 

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We DID get good news today! We found out that MOWA is:

*drum-roll please*

working through the weekend to catch up on cases!!

This is TOTALLY unheard of. Our coordinator Miss J said she practically yelled “What! That’s amazing!” when she found out.

So Mr. D (who, along with Mr. F has been going to MOWA every. single. day. to check in on all our cases – bless him) said that we should get our recommendation by the end of next week at the latest! We’re still hopeful and are praying that MOWA can knock out a lot of cases this weekend and will make it to our file sooner rather than later.

I LOVE our agency. Miss J called me with the great news this morning and told us they are all praying for us. All of Bethany’s cases were given negative recommendation letters, but we've experienced significant delays in comparison to everyone else. So Mr. F and Mr. D are fighting hard on our behalf to get us that letter.

I asked her to please convey our thanks to them for working so hard for us. When you have to rely on others to take care of things for you, it’s hard if they aren't as “gung-ho” as you are. But these two, they've been our champions. And I thank God for them.

I’m sure you’re wondering about timelines now. Well, since no one has made it past MOWA, no court dates have been issued. But they’re generally 2-3 weeks out. If we get our recommendation next week, we should be issued our court date within a day or two of getting our letter.

Right now, it looks like we could have a court date for the end of November or the first week of December.

We’re overjoyed right now. And as long as I’m with her for Christmas and KC is with the boys, my heart will be happy.

  

   

In the wise words of Joe Dirt

We've gotta keep on keepin' on. 

Well, the good news is that court gave MOWA a date of November 5 (tomorrow) to issue their recommendation.

 

And that’s where the good news stops.

 

MOWA told us that they won’t be issuing their recommendation tomorrow.

 

Since they closed down for 2 weeks, they’re still working on cases from October 20th.

 

OCTOBER 20th.

 

They told the team in Ethiopia, they likely won’t get to our case until next week.

 

BEST case scenario is we get our recommendation letter and court date by mid-week next week.

 

Likely scenario is we get our recommendation letter and court date by the end of the week.

 

Worst case scenario is we get our recommendation letter and court date the following week.

Yup. 

 

All we can do is keep trusting and keep hoping and keep on keepin' on. 

 

We're inching our way there. Slowly but surely. ❤️