COURT DATE ISSUED...BITTER SWEET...

Yesterday March 27^th, we received another phone call from AGCI.  Julie informed us that she had more great news for us. Here it is, Drum Roll please……….. We have birth parent court date April 1^st!  Yes you just read that right! Tuesday K’s daddy should be in Addis Ababa for his court date. This is the day that he will have the final choice to relinquish K. This is the day that my heart will be truly broken for K and his daddy. K’s daddy will also get the choice this day to spend time with K and say goodbye to him. I can’t imagine the hurt and pain they both will feel. As K’s mommy I want to so bad hold him and comfort him as his daddy leaves. I can’t be there and it kills me! However I am finding peace that our heavenly Father will be there to comfort K and his daddy.

Please! Please! Pray for K and his daddy on Tuesday April 1^st.

Please pray that they find his daddy and he can make it to the court date. If he does not make it there it will cause major delays in our case. If he does make it, our case should go fast. This weekend I am getting my list for packing. EEEEEEK! Also I made a mistake on how long it takes to get there from where BP is coming from. It’s not 10 hours its 2 ½ days!!!!!... That is a long trip! 

Begging for prayers! Right now! I will be so worried until Tuesday when I know whether he made it there. Also if he does make it there he will need all your prayers for peace in his heart. K is going to also need prayers. It will be so hard to see his daddy for the 1^st time in a while and to have to say goodbye. My heart is so heavy right now. I want to scoop K up and hold him and comfort him. I also want to give his daddy a big huge hug. We need all the prayers we can get at this time.

MOVING FORWARD!

So my last update said, ”Come on pair letter.”  Well its coming soon.  We have news! Our caseworker called us today to tell us that we have birth parent embassy date is April 16^th. This is an interview with the BP necessary to verify the facts presented in the adoption case. They want to make sure that everything is legal and also to make sure that BP understands everything that is happening with K.  After this interview our pair letter will be here one week later! I broke out into a happy dance! Our case is moving. From this point forward, if all goes well, it will be moving fast. I have heard of some cases that after the birth parent embassy date, they were leaving for Ethiopia within 11 days. Oh my, folks I’m crying and laughing at the same time. I’m scared and excited. There are so many emotions going on here. I cannot wait to get on that airplane that reads Ethiopian Air! I cannot wait to hold, love, smell, and play with my son. I cannot wait to walk through those big gates. I have no idea how I’m going to sleep until then. I’m packing my bags and I’ll be ready for the call to leave any day.

On another note, I wrote K’s birth father a letter. By far the hardest letter I have ever had to write. How do tell a father who had to relinquish his son that your heart aches for him. How do you thank a father who has been through so much heartache for giving you a son? How do you let him know how humble and grateful you are for his sacrifice out of love? HOW? HOW? HOW?  I humbly wrote this letter with tears in my eyes the entire time. I will always respect and love K’s father and K will always know about him. So, as I’m so happy today, I am reminded about the loss that K’s dad is going to feel when he sits at the Embassy on April 16^th. This is the date that he will know he has another family coming for him and that he may never see him again. Oh my heart is breaking for him. I did promise him that his son will be loved so much by our family (including all of you)!

PLEASE pray for K’s daddy that God will wrap his arms around him and give him comfort and peace! Please pray he also makes it to the Embassy safely. It’s almost a 10 hour drive from where he lives. The roads are not good either. It will be a long bumpy ride.

Thank you all for your support! We love you all!

Come on PAIR Letter!

So, I don’t have much to share about when Nick and I will be traveling to meet our son. We are in what is called a PAIR process and we are waiting on a PAIR letter. This process is very new and became effective September 1, 2013. PAIR stands for Pre - Adoption Immigration Review. This process will protect adoptive parents and also protect the adopted child and promote the best interests of the child. This PAIR letter is a pre-approval letter. The process can take 4-7 months. We are praying it doesn’t take that long. We have been assigned an officer to our case, which we can contact to see where our PAIR letter is and just get an update. Nick has spoken with her and he says she is very nice. We are going to email her on Monday to check on it. We sent our PAIR paperwork the 1^st week of January. So it has been 2months already. I can’t explain how much I think of K and worry about K daily. I have to admit I worry so much about this adoption and I just want K home. My arm literally aches to hold him. Every time my family sits down to eat dinner together I see that empty chair and my heart aches. We put his bed up in his room with his big brother and let me tell you seeing his bed with his new matching comforter just like his big brother’s kills me. I picture myself lying down in his bed with him rubbing his back until he falls asleep. Oh my heart, please everyone pray that God moves mountains to get K home soon. I know I do not have control over this, God does. I have read that “waiting for” is an active display of faith in God during tough situations.

Kaitlynn and I were in Columbus last month for her Government class and we decided to check out an Ethiopian restaurant. We are trying to learn as much as we can about K’s culture. Let me tell you we love his culture and food. Yummy!!! Kait and I shared a sampler platter. The meat was lamb. It was so good!  In Ethiopia they don’t eat with utensils.  They eat with injera, (like pancake bread) you tear a piece off and dip and scoop the food up with it. Its takes a little bit to get used to but Kait and I figured it out.