i also must admit, i have never fasted before in my life. if you know me at all, you know i love food. i may occasionally skip breakfast and eat goldfish and a coke for lunch, but i love to cook and i love to eat. and there is rarely a night that goes by that i don't end up on the couch with a bowl of blue bell mint chocolate chip. this is going to be hard for me. i had to heat up lunch for the kids. leftover spaghetti and garlic bread. it was tough. but it's not as tough as what Jesus did for us. and i will survive. i am amazed at what this feels like though. it's hard, but it's hard in a great way. i love the tears that are forming in my eyes as i pray each hour. i love the emails i am getting from our close friends and family as they write sweet words that lift us up. while i am praying selfishly that favor is found on us and our case, i also pray for the millions of other orphans in the world who don't have a family waiting for them. would you pray for those too?
Monday, April 8, 2013
preliminary hearing
today is the day that determines when we get to meet our sweet violet. the preliminary hearing is sometime today. ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us. so, allan and i decided to fast and pray throughout the day. we ate breakfast at 9:00 am and will fast until 9:00 am tomorrow morning. our hope is that the judge that hears about us and our case today will find favor and mercy on us. we have already experienced a three month delay due to licensing issues. most times the court date is assigned 4-6 weeks after the preliminary hearing. that means we will most likely travel in may to meet her. there are times though when a court date happens one week later. obviously, this is our preference. yes airfare is more expensive, yes it puts a lot of stress on getting everything ready, finding places for the kids to go, finding people to cart them to and from their activities, finding a poor soul to do school with them 3 days a week. but, the Lord will take care of the details, just like He always does. He tells us not to worry, and we will obey that command. so, while traveling as early as 1-2 weeks from now, may not be the plan for Violet, we pray that during this time we will cling to His words and promises. we pray that through this entire adoption, HE receives all the glory.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
blog title change
i forgot to mention i changed our title. when we started this blog, we searched and searched for the "right title." we failed. we found it now. be filled with joy. that's our attitude right now. we know we are going to be filled with joy when violet is home. and the lord is teaching us all about that right now.
patience
the Lord has definitely been teaching our family about patience lately. it's such a hard thing to learn, and i may be the very slowest learner of all. sometimes i wonder if the delays we've experienced through this process may be my fault. i can't seem to grasp the idea.
here's the latest on the timeline...subject to change.
originally, we were told we would travel sometime between january and february. then we got a call saying that the orphanage violet went to for a few weeks had to have their license renewed. nothing major, totally common, should be done in 2 weeks tops. that call came on december 28th. i marked on my calendar 2 weeks from that date and emailed my social worker. no news yet was her response. i know you are probably wondering what does the license being renewed have to do with anything. the long and short is that every two years an orphanage has to renew their license. in america we would apply for that renewal before the old one expired, right? however, in ethiopia you don't apply for that renewal until the day your old one expires. well the two weeks turned into a month and a half. on february 11th, we heard that the orphanage violet had been at received their new license. praise Jesus! so, now our case could be taken to court for a review. i assumed that would happen the next day and they'd determine a date for travel. i assumed wrong. big shock. i'm a really slow learner. i learn more and more that i don't understand this process nearly well enough and even if i did, things are subject to change. :) so, on feb 27th we received an email that our case had been filed at court and the preliminary hearing was scheduled for april 9th. i almost cried! april 9th. for a preliminary hearing. the preliminary hearing is where the birth mother would show up and say that she understands that she is placing her child for adoption. we do not travel for this. in the case of violet, there is not a birth mother that they have found. so, the judge and the director of the transitional care home will meet and discuss her case. at that time the judge will transfer our paperwork to MOWA (ministry of women's affairs) and we will be assigned a travel date.
friends, this is where you come in. on april 9th we need your prayers. we need you to pray that they will find grace on us and that letter will be received with a very fast turn around time with a travel date. all we can think of is that each day that we aren't there, we lose a little bit more time with her. we want to have her in our arms, hugging and kissing on her. we want her to know us. they say that attachment is a little harder the older the children are, for both parents and children. we know that violet is being held in our Savior's arms while we can't be there. i know He is comforting her. i know she is well cared for where she is, but i also know the reality is that she isn't as well loved as she will be in our arms. so pray friends, pray for us. pray for violet. pray that our heavenly Father is wrapping his arms around her and she feels that. i know He is.
we did hear through a facebook group of adoptive families from our agency that she is one of the happiest babies in the orphanage. now if that doesn't make you smile, i don't know what would. oh how i wish i could show you her picture. she is a beauty.
thank you for walking this walk with us. we are honored that so many of you ask about the latest news each time we see you. and we apologize if we seem bummed when we say "no news." we are grateful for all the Lord is teaching us during this time. it's hard y'all. but it is so worth it.
here's the latest on the timeline...subject to change.
originally, we were told we would travel sometime between january and february. then we got a call saying that the orphanage violet went to for a few weeks had to have their license renewed. nothing major, totally common, should be done in 2 weeks tops. that call came on december 28th. i marked on my calendar 2 weeks from that date and emailed my social worker. no news yet was her response. i know you are probably wondering what does the license being renewed have to do with anything. the long and short is that every two years an orphanage has to renew their license. in america we would apply for that renewal before the old one expired, right? however, in ethiopia you don't apply for that renewal until the day your old one expires. well the two weeks turned into a month and a half. on february 11th, we heard that the orphanage violet had been at received their new license. praise Jesus! so, now our case could be taken to court for a review. i assumed that would happen the next day and they'd determine a date for travel. i assumed wrong. big shock. i'm a really slow learner. i learn more and more that i don't understand this process nearly well enough and even if i did, things are subject to change. :) so, on feb 27th we received an email that our case had been filed at court and the preliminary hearing was scheduled for april 9th. i almost cried! april 9th. for a preliminary hearing. the preliminary hearing is where the birth mother would show up and say that she understands that she is placing her child for adoption. we do not travel for this. in the case of violet, there is not a birth mother that they have found. so, the judge and the director of the transitional care home will meet and discuss her case. at that time the judge will transfer our paperwork to MOWA (ministry of women's affairs) and we will be assigned a travel date.
friends, this is where you come in. on april 9th we need your prayers. we need you to pray that they will find grace on us and that letter will be received with a very fast turn around time with a travel date. all we can think of is that each day that we aren't there, we lose a little bit more time with her. we want to have her in our arms, hugging and kissing on her. we want her to know us. they say that attachment is a little harder the older the children are, for both parents and children. we know that violet is being held in our Savior's arms while we can't be there. i know He is comforting her. i know she is well cared for where she is, but i also know the reality is that she isn't as well loved as she will be in our arms. so pray friends, pray for us. pray for violet. pray that our heavenly Father is wrapping his arms around her and she feels that. i know He is.
we did hear through a facebook group of adoptive families from our agency that she is one of the happiest babies in the orphanage. now if that doesn't make you smile, i don't know what would. oh how i wish i could show you her picture. she is a beauty.
thank you for walking this walk with us. we are honored that so many of you ask about the latest news each time we see you. and we apologize if we seem bummed when we say "no news." we are grateful for all the Lord is teaching us during this time. it's hard y'all. but it is so worth it.
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