Waiting Again for Court

I'm so excited, I can't even sleep. I have been almost giddy. A complete 180 degree change from earlier this week when I was anticipating our court date. And now, I look at the clock and see that it is February 12 in Ethiopia and the court will open in 5 minutes. This could be the day that will forever change our family. I am still fighting anxious feelings today, but more than that, I am so humbled that God would let me be a mother. God is entrusting my husband and me with a tiny baby girl to raise her to follow Jesus.

As we pray toward tomorrow, there are so many things that I have asked the Lord. I believe I have used up my quota for prayer request, but if you feel led to pray tonight as you lay your head on the pillow, here are some specific things that we are praying.

Our dossier is perfect. Every "i" is dotted and "t" is crossed.

Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA). They must complete documents to accompany our dossier. I pray they would have all of their documents completed and with our documents.

The judge will show up to court. Anything could happen with no explanation required and our case would not be heard if the judge is absent.

The schedule of the court. Many cases are scheduled per day and sometimes, they do not get to all of the cases they had planned. I pray that our case will be heard.

The birth mother. She will have to show up to court and transportation and work situations could prohibit her from being there or cause her to be late. I am always praying for the birth mother. She is making one of the hardest and most loving decisions.


I have been listening to Travis Cottrell's CD, Jesus Saves-LIVE. I keep repeating #7, "Do It, Lord"

Do it, Lord! Do it, Lord! Do it, Lord we are praying

Do it Lord, do it, that Your glory may be seen!

Yes, Lord! We are praying for this miracle in our life.

Once again, thank you for praying! I will post our court results as soon as I hear something.

"I will not leave you as orphans, I am coming for you!" John 14:18

Just a Case of Braxton Hicks

I'd like to think that I'm not a worrier, but who am I kidding. The stress that I felt this morning was something fierce! My husband is always so calm, cool, and collected but not even he could stand the waiting. At 9:45AM I was ready to call our agent but he encouraged me to be patient. In less than ten minutes, he called me back and wanted me to phone our adoption agency. I had to leave a voice message. The thoughts and words were hard to form in my head. "I'm calling to see if you have any word on our daughter today." Of course, she called while I was out of my office and left the following message: "I just received your message and I am confused. I don't understand why you would be calling. I'm not going to know anything until our court date on FRIDAY!!!" The emails we have exchanged clearly stated that our case was going to court on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. My husband and I were completely dumbfounded. We had spent a number of sleepless nights, countless tears, and the most precious moments in prayer for this day--our court date only to learn it's not until Friday!

What started as disappointment and anger has melted into relief and laughter. We haven't been postponed or rejected; today was never our date to start with. Later it was explained why there was confusion between the Ethiopian calendar and our calendar, but that didn't really take away the sting.

Would you call this "false labor"???? I think so.

I wonder if there is a quota on how many times you can ask friends to pray for you. If so, then I've used all of my requests in the last few weeks. Like most people, I try to figure out what God could be teaching us.

The last few weeks have been trying, but there have been some of the most tender moments that I have shared alone with the Lord and my husband. I wouldn't trade the time we have literally cried out to the Lord for our baby girl for anything. I wonder if we would pray and seek Him with such intensity and desperation if we had not hit this speed bump along this path.

God continues to remind us how badly we want this child! Several years ago, my pastor said something so profound. "There has never been an unwanted adoption. While there have been many unplanned pregnancies, there's never an unwanted adoption." How true! I am gaining a little more understanding of Romans 8:15. "We have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [and daughters], by who we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" God has adopted US into His family! He wanted us so badly and went to great lengths to make us His children! After months of paperwork and waiting to clear homeland security, I see how challenging this can be. However, we do not give up because we long to have our baby home. God didn't give up on us either. "We are adopted as sons [and daughters] through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will" Eph. 1:5

God has worked out many details throughout this journey. Why would He abandon us now? We trust that He will be faithful til the end. Until the day we hold our baby girl, we will trust Him in the waiting.