More Delays

We found out a few weeks ago that there is paperwork missing for Jonah Nahom's case. It's in-country paperwork, not anything we can take care of ourselves. This means that we have no idea when our case will move forward. It could be tomorrow, or we could be in this same spot one year from now.

As you can imagine, this was devastating news when we first heard it. We have grown accustomed to it now and are more committed than ever to bringing home our little guy. He is our son in our hearts, already. We will wait as long as it takes or until we are told that it is impossible to continue.

Father God, we are trusting you. We know you love Jonah Nahom and we know that you desire for him to have the love of a family. Keep him happy, safe, and secure until we can bring him home. In the strong name of Jesus, amen.

Something to Think About

Sunday, November 8th, is Orphan Sunday. November is National Adoption Month, with the 21st being National Adoption Day. What might your role be?

Still No News

I confess, I actually thought we would be assigned a courtdate last week. So much for that. We're still waiting to hear. I hate waiting.

Word Has It...

...that the Ethiopian courts are open and are planning to assign future court dates this week for those of us who were filed before court closure...yippee!!!!! How am I going to sleep any night this week?!

October 13th...

...that's the date Ethiopian courts are supposed to reopen. We haven't received a date for our case yet. This morning at church one of the pastors talked about the things that people have weighing on their hearts and minds, even though they may not talk about those things. I had a hard time holding back the tears. I don't talk about it much and I try to look at the positives in this situation, but I long for my little boy, whom I've never met. He's been at the orphanage for almost a year now. Does he think that's his permanent home? Does he get to look through the photo album we sent him months ago with pictures of us? Is he getting enough love and attention?

Dear God, please protect Jonah Nahom's little heart, mind, body, and spirit as he waits to come home. Please help him to feel loved and protected by You. Comfort him when he is hurt, lonely, and afraid. Prepare us as we wait. Help us to trust You. We know You love him more than we do. In the strong name of Jesus, amen.

Are They Open?

Rumor has it that the Ethiopian courts re-opened today, or it might not be until next Monday. Either way, it's good news for us. We still haven't received a new courtdate yet, but I am holding out hope that we will hear something very soon. I hope so. I'm getting weary and I'm starting to think Jonah Nahom will never come home.

Waiting...

Well, courts officially closed a few weeks ago, but will be re-opening on September 27, which is early! I had been hoping we would already have a courtdate scheduled for the beginning of October, but nothing yet. I'll keep you posted.

On Hold

Well, it's not official yet, but it sounds like we won't be getting a courtdate until after the Ethiopian courts close and re-open for the rainy season. I believe closure dates are August 21 - October 1. There is still an outside chance we'll get a date before courts close, but it's very, very unlikely. Assuming we don't, the best we can hope for is an early October courtdate. If Jonah Nahom's case passes the first time, which isn't impossible, but not typical, either, then the earliest we could go get him would be early- to mid-November. I haven't given up hope on an August courtdate just yet, but I'm trying to be realistic. Even though this isn't really "news," I wanted to update those of you who have been wondering, and sometimes asking, whether or not we've heard anything. The only upside to this, that I can see, is that it gives us longer to come up with the money we are going to need once we pass court. While time seems to be moving so slowly until we meet Jonah and welcome him into our family, I am reminded that God's timing is not ours and what seems so very long to us is really just a blink to Him.

Update

We just heard today that the Ethiopian courts have again started assigning and hearing abandonment cases. This is great news! We are hoping to hear by Thursday when our new courtdate will be. However, we are also moving Thursday, so it may not be until the end of the weekend before we find out our date and can share that information with all of you.

Case Not Heard

As was expected, though we were praying and hoping differently, Jonah Nahom's case was not heard on Thursday due to the fact that he was abandoned and abandonment hearings have not yet resumed. We are prayerful that his case will be heard before courts close at the beginning of August for the rainy season. If it is not heard and approved before court closure, the earliest his case would be heard would be October. Please continue to pray with us for a speedy resolution and for Jonah's peace of mind and comfort in the meantime. Thank you for your faithfulness to us and and to this beautiful little boy who is already our son in our hearts.

Ethiopia Court Update

Yesterday, our agency rep posted this:

"What we were told today, from reputable sources in Ethiopia, was that the investigation will be complete and they will begin hearing cases again ofabandoned kids by the end of June. That is really all I know. I guess that is at least a timeline. I am not saying that by the end of June doesn't mean it couldn't be earlier than end of June, but I really don't know that is just what we were told. They will get these cases on the docket through before courts close, I am sure."

I'm sure I should be happy about this, but I am disappointed. Jonah Nahom's courtdate is scheduled for this coming Thursday, June 4th. I am still praying for a miracle, that somehow, some way, everything would get resolved this week and our courtdate would happen, as planned, and that his case would be approved at the first hearing. I know that is asking a lot, but I serve a VERY large God, who is in no way intimidated, worried, or confused by these circumstances.

Thank you to all of you who have sent emails, or talked to me in person, to ask how things are going. It means so much to me that Jonah Nahom is not forgotten and that he has people all over this country praying for his speedy and safe trip home to his forever family.

Thank you for lifting us up during this time.

Micah's Gotcha Day

Yesterday, May 17th, was the one-year anniversary of the first time we held Micah Kirubel. It truly feels like he's always been a part of our family. We love him so much, as you can see in the picture at left. Thank you, God, for giving us this little boy to love and be a part of our family

A Setback

Below is an alert regarding Ethiopian adoptions. Please read it and join us in prayer. Nahom was abandoned, so this does, indeed, affect us. This is very worrisome, but I am confident that my God is bigger than this and that it will all be resolved, hopefully in a very timely manner.

May 13, 2009
Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court:The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

At Last, A Court Date

I got an email last week from our agency saying that we have been assigned a courtdate of June 4th. Yaaayyy! This is great news! If we pass the first time, Brad will travel 4-8 weeks later. If we don't pass the first time, we will be assigned a new courtdate. That will continue to happen until we pass. We did pass the first time with Micah, but things are changing with Ethiopian adoptions, so I'm not holding my breath this time around. We are praying for God's perfect timing in all this, as we'd prefer to wait to bring home Jonah Nahom until after we've moved so that he doesn't have to make two major transitions in such a short period of time. We can't wait to meet him!

Sorrow and Joy

It's been an eventful week for us, as we learned on Monday that the little boy we were hoping to adopt from Ethiopia, Kirubel, will likely be unavailable for adoption. It is expected that his biological family will be returning for him in the near future. While we are happy for him and pray that he will be well loved and cared for, we are sad for ourselves as we grieve this loss. For those who haven't adopted, it may be hard to understand how we could be emotionally attached already to a boy we've never met and only seen one picture of. There's really no way for me to explain it. We loved him already and wanted him to be a part of our family. This was not God's plan, and we accept that He knows better than we do. We've spent the week crying and processing all of this, as well as considering whether or not to accept the referral of another child or postpone our adoption plans. It didn't take long for us to decide what to do.

Today we decided to accept the referral for another little boy. The truth is we love adoption and we love these children. Our hearts physically ache and long for these children who have no families to care for them. While they are certainly very well cared for in the orphanage in Ethiopia, nothing can take the place of a loving family. And so we have accepted the referral for a two-year old boy named Nahom (pronounced Nay-hum). His name means "An Old Testament Prophet" or "Compassionate." We are in love with him already and are eager to bring him home. His case will be filed to receive a courtdate next week. He and Micah are only eight months apart in age, so our house is going to be VERY busy once Nahom comes home.

Please join us in rejoicing at the goodness of God who has deemed us worthy of caring for not only Nahom, but all of our children. We are very grateful for the opportunity to raise each one of them. Would you also join us in prayer that Nahom's paperwork process would be smooth and quick and that God would be preparing his heart, even now, to receive his new family with gladness and acceptance?

...And Some More Changes

As many of you know, Brad has accepted a position with Young Life in Grove City, PA, about an hour north of Pittsburgh. We are planning to move in August after Hannah finishes summer school. We are looking forward to getting to know different people and living in a different place. I am, of course, a bit overwhelmed at the thought of finding a place to live and renting out our house here. I know it will all work out, though, as things always do. I'm sure there are many times when I will be very homesick, as well, but having four, almost five, kids doesn't leave much time for feeling sorry for myself.

We don't have any new information on Noah Kirubel, the three-year old little boy we have applied to adopt from Ethiopia. We are waiting on a court date, but haven't heard anything about even being filed for a date yet, so it could be a while. If he's home before the end of the year, that will be a success in my mind.

I'll try to post again soon, hopefully with good news of a court date, someone to rent our house, and finding a place to live in Grove City!

It is with great joy that Brad and I want to let you know that we have begun the process of adopting another child from Ethiopia. We have accepted the referral from our agency for a 3-year old boy named Kirubel Berhane. (Yes, that was Micah's former first name, now his middle name.) We don't have much information to share at this point except that Kirubel is a reportedly healthy boy who came into the orphanage in December. We hadn't planned to adopt again so soon, but God has laid this little boy on our hearts and we want him to join our family. The legal proceedings have been set in motion, but we don't have any firm dates yet. The very earliest we would bring him home would be May, but it will likely be later than that. We are planning to only have Brad travel this time, so that I can stay home with the other four kids and keep things running smoothly (or whatever passes for smoothly around here!). We hope that you will rejoice with us as we travel down this path again.

Still Here

Well, since Chris thinks I'm dead, I thought I should post. I should've never said I will try to post every Monday. Once I realized that was unrealistic, I just gave up altogether. If I can't do something the way I want, I don't do it at all! Talk about perfectionistic. My friend, Michelle, says I've mellowed since "having" a fourth child. I agree with her to a point, but as you can tell by my confession above, I'm not totally mellow yet!

The holidays have flown by and we enjoyed them a great deal. The kids all enjoyed their gifts from family and Santa. It was especially meaningful to be a family of six this year.

School has started again this week and I am grateful for the return to a routine. It was nice to be able to "sleep in" during the break, but the days sometimes got long with not enough to do. Or, at least, not enough that any of us wanted to do. There's certainly plenty to do around here, but nobody wants to do any of it, me included!

Stay tuned for exciting news in the coming weeks/months. Will that make you come back to visit my blog, despite my terrible posting habits?

Happy New Year!