5.24.2010

Court Date Change!

Well, today was our court date in Ethiopia. And as they often do, they changed it. It is now June 16th (or sooner they said). We were afraid this would happen. The MOWA did not issue an opinion for our case. So, they could not continue in court today.

The Adoption Team in the Children and Youth Affairs Office (CYAO) operating under the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) is the primary adoption authority in Ethiopia. MOWA has responsibility for all activities regarding children in Ethiopia, including welfare, foster care, domestic adoption, international adoption and investigation of neglect and abuse. When an orphaned or abandoned child comes into the custody of the Ethiopian government, the police and MOWA create the child's dossier. So, they have to state their opinion the day before or the day of court. They just didn't give their opinion on our case yet.

So, we are all disappointed and a little frustrated today. But, we also are reminding ourselves that God in in control of every step in this journey and HIS plan is the best one! Not ours! So, we will continue to decorate rooms, get ready for our yard sale, raise money and do all the projects before they come home. I have said during this whole process that these beautiful kids will not be in our arms a day sooner or later than God has planned!

Thanks everyone for all your prayers!!! Keep it up!!! Love you all so much!!!

5.09.2010

We got our COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!

We got a call from Natalie exactly one month from the referral call that our court date is May 24th! AND, we made the cut-off so we only have to travel once now to Ethiopia!! We were in complete shock that we got our court date this early. We were praying we would get it before the rainy season in Ethiopia in August. So, this call came as a complete surprise to us on Monday May 5th! We are in rush mode now to get everything ready! But, happy to be rushed! Praise the Lord for HIS timing!