Good news and GREAT news!

First, the good news.

 

Our dossier is on its way to Ethiopia (for the 2^nd time)!!

 

Woooooooohhhhhhhhhooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! *happy dance*

 

It should get there by Monday or Tuesday. We’re hoping and praying it makes it to MOWA/MOWCYA by Friday the 26th so we can get our positive recommendation letter and that we get a court date by September 29th/30^th.

 

Friends, in just about a week and a half, we’ll finally know when we’re going to see our girl. Talk about exciting!

 

I’m sure you’re thinking if that’s the good news, what’s the GREAT news?

 

Remember how we sent a photo album full of pictures of us and our home so they could introduce us to Bertie before we arrived?  

 

Well, it finally made it to the orphanage. Our girl knows who we are. She’s seen our faces and the faces of her brothers. She’s seen pictures of her new home and her bedroom.

 

She will recognize us when we show up at the orphanage to pick her up.

 

Guys, she’ll know us.

 

KC and I cannot tell you how happy our hearts are right now.

 

And if that wasn’t great enough news, we found out that they took pictures of her seeing us in the album for the first time. They’ll include those in our next update that we’ll get in the next 2 weeks.

 

We get to see pictures of her seeing us.

 

We’re on cloud nine right now.

 

I’m a little nervous about seeing those pictures though. Her reaction may not be what we’re expecting. Haha!

 

But I’m just glad that we won’t be strangers when we walk into the orphanage to bring her home.

 

Seven months after seeing her face for the first time, she’s finally seeing ours.

 

Now, when people ask us if she knows who we are, it’ll be nice to finally say,

 

Yes, yes she does.  ❤️

   

 

Dossier Update: Part Tres

Our dossier FINALLY shipped from DC! It should make it to Michigan tomorrow afternoon. 

 

Thank you Jesus.

 

So where are we at now?

 

Well, our agency isn’t going to make us wait until Friday to send our dossier to Ethiopia. They’re going to send it out tomorrow if they get it early enough in the day; otherwise, they’ll send it out on Wednesday morning. It will take 3-5 business days to make it to Ethiopia, so we’re looking at next Tuesday. 

 

Mr. F in Ethiopia is standing by with translators to have our dossier ready to send to MOWCYA/MOWA within 2 days. They’ll hopefully have it by the end of next week. Once we get our POSITIVE letter, we’ll be issued a court date (it’s looking like we’ll get that date around the 26^th or 29^th).

 

At this point, court will likely be opened back up. We’ve been holding onto hope that we’d get a court date of the 21^st or 22^nd; but it’s looking more likely that it may be later and that we may not be traveling initially with the Clarks.

 

Our disappointment with that is definitely diminishing as time goes on. We’d LOVE to travel when they do, but we don’t want to be there an extra 10 days before our court date. It just wouldn’t be financially prudent for us to spend an extra almost 2 weeks there only so we travel with others.

 

We’ll still get to stay with them at the guest house, we just may not be traveling to the orphanage together.

 

And that’s okay.

 

At this point, we’re just continuing to add cushion to our account and are praying that we still get a court date around the 3^rd week of October.

 

I’m amazed at how calm I’ve become this last week. It took a lot of quiet time with God, but I’m coming to the realization that God isn’t going to make something happen for me just because I really, really want Him to.

 

It’s still hard; all the unknowns. But it’s a bit better knowing that He has a plan – one likely bigger and better than ours.

 

We knew this journey would be wild as soon as we said yes to Him.

 

We just couldn’t imagine how wild.

  

 

Well....

I'm sad to say that after two and a half weeks, our dossier still has not left D.C. 

I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing me lament about our bad news, but guys, we're even more tired of sharing it. 

We honestly have NO idea why D.C. still has our dossier after they were paid extra to expedite it. 

Not a single clue. 

And it's killing me. 

I know it'll all work out and we'll travel when we're supposed to, but guys this really sucks. 

I'm not as angry as I could be, and I'm thankful that I've been praying hard this week. 

**Update

Our coordinator will contact D.C. on Monday if it doesn't get shipped out today. So that's a bit of good news. 

I'm also thankful for Holly Gerth and her words of wisdom:

{In other words, release control. Realize that you can’t keep yourself safe. You can’t fix this problem. You can’t be strong enough on your own.

Yes, you can partner with God, but in the same way a baby partners with a parent—in trust, obedience, and surrender....

[So] Lay your head on his chest. Tell him you’re afraid and weary. Tell him what you need. Then let your heart rest.}

http://holleygerth.com/even-darkest-night-leads-dawn/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dayspring%2FaSfH+%28Heart+to+Heart+with+Holley%29 

Please continue to keep us and sweet Bertie in your prayers. We want to make it to our girl fast. ❤️

  

  

Dossier Update: Part Uno

Okay guys, so we spoke with our coordinator and they have not received our Dossier from Washington D.C. yet.

 

BUT she is confident that she will get it tomorrow morning and will be able to send it out to Ethiopia tomorrow afternoon. It’ll kill us to have to wait an entire week before even sending it off. Well, not literally, but it’d sure feel that way! 

 

If our dossier gets sent to Ethiopia tomorrow, there’s a very good chance that we could have our court date given to us late next week or early the following week! That’s a HUGE step! 

 

Also, I had asked our coordinator if she knew how far out court dates were being scheduled. I was trying to see if there was still a chance to travel with the Clarks.

 

The last case they submitted to court was almost 3 weeks ago. Their court date was the 20^th!! That means there’s still a chance we could get a court date on the Monday the 20^th or the Tuesday the 21^st! The Clarks have their court date on Thursday the 16^th.

With a court date on those days, we could leave here on October 10-11 to make it to Ethiopia with enough time to take the 4 day trip to Bertie's orphanage. We need to make it there before court so she be with us. 

 

I wish I had a bit more news, but since it’s been over a week, I thought I’d update you. I hope to update you tomorrow with even better news!

Dear friends, we know your prayers are working. We can see evidence of that every time we speak with our International Team. So please, help us continue praying. I know He hears us.

 

Thank you sweet friends. We couldn’t do this without you. 

 

  

  

 

 

Next stop, Washington D.C.!

Today is an exciting day! Our file was received by our team in Michigan. Our dossier specialist Miss C. reviewed our dossier and said everything looked great! Especially considering we gathered it all in less than 2 weeks.

 

And guess what? They’re sending it to D.C. today!

 

*cue huge shout of joy!*

 

If you remember (if you follow me on FB), our agency is going to have our authentication expedited. Cool huh? 

Even better, they’re going to cover the fees that go with having it expedited! Another blessing! It takes about a week for the expedited authentication.

 

We’re praying that D.C. finishes up quickly and that Michigan gets our file no later than next Thursday. If that happens, our file will be on its way to merry ol’ Ethiopia {oh, maybe that’s supposed to be London.  ;-) } on Friday the 5^th! If not, it won’t be sent until Friday the 12^th. Either one is still great, but the 5^th would mean we would get our court date sooner and prayerfully within a day or two of the Clarks.

 

Imagine leaving the place you’ve called home for 1-3 years all by yourself. We’re really wanting to go at the same time as the Clarks so our girls can travel back to Addis Ababa together. We’ll all be staying in the same guest house while we’re there too.

 

Aubrey and I just know it’d be an easier transition on both of the girls if they were together at least a little longer.

 

So, this is where we’re at friends.

 

This is the last stop our dossier has to make. Amazingly, everything has been happening quickly at this step. Please help us pray it continues to go swiftly!

 

As we get closer to making the actual trip to get our sweet girl, I find myself constantly thinking of you guys. All of you who have helped us in our journey to bring her home. So many of you have helped out tremendously – many of our new friends, and old friends, and family members have battled right next to us.

 

Thank you. We cannot say it enough. I wish there was more that we could do, more that I could say. But there is so much tied up in those two words and we want you to know that we aren’t sure how to convey it…. It seems so little for so much.

 

But know, that we appreciate and love you all so much; you hold such a precious, precious space in our hearts.