Frday

Okay - after much harrassing on my part our agency has told us that Estifaons case will be heard again in court on Friday (Thurs night here). Reportedly his uncle will be able to attend and everything is in order for him to pass. The journey to these kids has had more road bumps than I ever imagined but hopefully this is the point where the road smooths out before us.

Pray with us that his uncle is able to show up and that truely every piece of paper is there and that the judge looks with favor on our case, and of course that there is electricity in the building.

And pray our good news comes early Friday so I don't wear out the refresh button checking my email like a crazy woman!!!

Wise Men and adoption

So the wise men saw a star in the east and knew it would lead them to a king - of course they probably weren't thinking a baby but never the less. The thing is that they were looking, looking and perhaps longing for something more - something that would give thier lives greater meaning, something to sacrifice for.



They journeyed far - probably farther than they ever imagined. With great sacrifice and hardship along the way - leaving the familiar comfortable life in thier home country and traveling for what may have been years. (by camel no less - by the way camels stink)



Then they were surprised at the manger - overwhelmed I am sure by the rustic simplicity of it - by the baby/small child they encountered - by the God that they encountered.



We start an adoption journey seeing that star in the distance.



The journey takes us farther than we imagine - out of our comfort zone, through valleys we never knew existed, testing and refining us every step of the way.



Then we are surprised at the manger - with a love for our children that is built by going the distance required to get them. And we find that we would sacrifice anything - gold, frankensence and myrrh to have them home - they are more precious than the physical or emotional cost of the journey.



That journey to the manger shaped the wisemen and it shapes adoptive families as well. May we all journey with grace and wisdom moving foward to the manger.

The end of my rope

Alrighty then - we finally heard from Erin today and apparently the courts closed on Friday for a week. I'm totally having a difficult time believing that on Thursday when our case was to be heard again no one mentioned that the courts would be closed for the next week - but that is what we are being told now. We don't have any idea when they are going to hear the case again or what his uncle can do about attending. Seriously can anything else go wrong?? Oh yes it can because in 2 weeks (a little less) it is ET Christmas and then the celebration of the Epiphany (Timkat) so I am sure that the courts and gov't offices will be closed more than they are open.

And right now they are saying the best we can expect for Alemtsehaye is possibly a Jan 27 embassy date but more likely is Feb 10 - ummm hello it was supposed to be Dec 2 and now we are talking more than 2 months later and Estifanos even later than that - Oy!

I am completly a mess.

Heartbroken

No, not what you are thinking - we haven't heard anything yet this morning.

But ...... often we talk about having our hearts broken for the orphan - recently I was pondering that. Actually what happened was we were watching Evan Almighty and there is a scene where God is talking to the mom and says if someone prays for patience does God give them patience or opportunities to become patient. Hmmmm. If someone prays for the plight of the orphan and asks God for his heart for the orphan, does God magically give them that heart, that feeling or opportunities to become broken or hurt for the orphan? You see we have had one stumbling block after another on the way to our son - in fact a few weeks after signing the referral papers we weren't sure we would be able to adopt him at all, obviously things worked out - but it was a tough couple of days and it made us realize excatly how much we really wanted him for our son, how committed we were to him. And now every step of the way our hearts are broken over each and every delay and we wonder what in the world God is doing. And perhaps He wonders what in the world we are doing allowing all these children to grow up in orphanages needing and wanting parents who never answer the call to adopt. You see adoption isn't only about the parents need/desire to parent - but even more so it is about the child's need/ desire for a family. Each and every child deserves to be special to someone - a mom and a dad. And that is what being heartbroken is about - about knowing there are millions of orphans that will never find a mom and a dad because God's people are not answering the call.

No news

Many thanks to all of you for your sweet emails - but no news today. Supposedly they were trying again (since Christmas in ET isn't for a bit yet). Hopefully we will hear in the morning.

And Merry Christmas to all.

Not today.

Not surprisingly we didn't pass today either. His uncle was unable to attend.

Ugh. failed again

Well I don't even know what to say. Estifanos case failed again. This time because our agency didn't ask his uncle to come to court. Apparently the uncle came the last 2 times but they didn't think he needed to come again. And apparently the judge did. They are going to try again tomorrow.

This is like a never ending nightmare of hope and disappointment - I don't even want to get my hopes up for tomorrow because honestly who knows what will be required next. It is like someone keeps moving the target in front of us.

Thank you all for praying - and if you could pray with us one more time....