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 Two

Our dossier did not make it back from D.C. today. So it did not get sent off to Ethiopia like we were hoping.

Turns out, it hasn't even left D.C. yet.

I want to tell you that I took this news like a champ.

But that would be lying.

I cried.

I got angry.

And frazzled.

And then sad.

Guys, I'm tired. I'm not going to pretend like I'm not.

This whole thing has been tiring.

The constant delays and hiccups and emotional ups and downs...

They're tiring.

I told KC just this morning that I feel drained. I feel like I've got nothing left.

My mind feels so fried from the constant battles going on.

The adoption battle.

The family battle.

The work battle.

The finance battle.

The everyday, mundane needs battle.

I have barely slept the last 3 weeks, and I can only assume it's because my mind is on stress overload right now.

After explaining this to KC as best as I could, he said "like too little butter on too much bread". I loved the LOTR reference, and I loved that he understood.

I'm praying for rest. I'm doing my best to not think too much about the future - it's out of my control and it's too hard to try to control it.

We had a meeting with Caed and Ollie's teachers to explain about the adoption and let them know we would be out of the country for 4-6 weeks. It was hard getting through that without crying - since I still don't have a definite travel date yet.

We came home, and I just fell into bed. KC told me to spend some time in our room alone while he and the boys straightened up the house.

I couldn't help it. The tears of frustration I had been holding in all day fell fast.

I stared at Bertie's face on my lock screen and cried even harder.

It's hard. Crazy. Hard.

And that's how I know, I need rest. Not just the let's-relax-at-home-for-the-weekend-and-binge-eat kind of rest; but the deep supernatural rest that comes from our Father.

Some days, it takes all the strength I can muster to just say "Please Lord".....

I'm not sure if I've ever fought so hard for something; I'm not sure if I've ever been fought this hard about something.

.........................................................................

Our coordinator said they would try to send our dossier off next week as soon as they got it. In all honesty, I'm almost too scared to hope that it get's sent off before Friday.

Each delay hits us hard. REALLY hard.

But as scared as I am not to hope to hard, I'm even more afraid of not stepping out. Even with each delay and each prayer that God answers with a "not yet my dear", I have to keep putting myself out there.

I have to take those leaps and trust that He will catch me.

So right now, even though I KNOW that He's got this, even though I know it's all in His timing, even though I know we'll travel when He wants us too....

Right now, in this moment, this delay still hurts. It sucks. And I'm allowed to say so.

So long as I don't allow these delays to skew my view of Him.

He has done SO much for us. More than I can write down in a blog post.

He sees Bertie.

And He sees me.

And I know He is looking out for us. <3

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Matthew 11:28 

  

  

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.