Leaving for Court

It has been a busy past few weeks, but we have made it to the airport and are ready to leave for our court trip. We'll board the plane here in Atlanta in just a few minutes, fly thru Frankfurt and on to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Thank you for your prayers as we travel, prepare to meet A Thursday or Friday, attend court Monday, and then leave for home (w/o A - see previous post for details on why.) We'd also appreciate prayers for M, A, & J as they stay home. We return Tuesday. I'll share a few pics of A's room & a collage that is in the photo album A will receive when we're on our way back for the Embassy trip (the one when he leaves with us!)

 

We probably won't be able to blog or check email while we are there, but we should be able to communicate via Facebook.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Court Date

So remember how last week I said it can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks for the judge to issue our court date, which should be 3-8 weeks out from the date we are notified? Well, the judge took 1 week and our court date is in 3 weeks and 3 days. Now subtract at least 5 days, because we have to be in country by the Thursday before. Oh, we may need to take away another day, as Thursday doesn't seem to be an easy day to get a flight in; and yep, we (just David & Amy) leave the country in about 17-18ish days. But it's worth it, because we get to meet A in 20 days!

No, our calendar really isn't this open. Wouldn't that be nice?

You may also remember I mentioned that A does not come home with us, or even get to know us especially, on this trip. Every country process is a little different. Families adopting from Ethiopia must appear first in the Ethiopian national court. Once approved, a few more documents are gathered (official declaration letters, his new birth certificate & passport) and the case is submitted to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. The Embassy there reviews our file and, once satisfied, issues an interview. We will then return to Ethiopia to complete the process and bring A home. This could be 2 months after our court date, or 4 months, or...

Agencies differ in their approach to the adoptive parents' involvement on the first (court) trip. Our agency prefers that children under 10 not know which couple specifically has been matched with them until the parents are scheduled to return for the final (Embassy) trip. We actually prefer this method because we'd rather A not associate us, as his parents, with leaving him. Certainly, we are excited about meeting him and the other children living in the orphanage. Of course it will be difficult returning home without him, but we've heard from a few other adoptive parents that this orphanage does a wonderful job with the children. We expect this will help some.

One of the projects to be accomplished before we leave (in 17ish days) is a photo album, which will be used to familiarize A with our family, home, etc before we arrive in Ethiopia for the final, Embassy, trip. One of the pages will feature A's room here, however it currently looks like this:

Impressive, isn't it?

So you see, we have a few more projects in addition to prepping, packing, immunizing, mothering, fathering, teaching, doctoring; you get the idea! Where is that blank calendar? We do appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and support. Thankfully, I have some wonderful ladies who will be helping me over the next few weeks. There are more posts we still hope to share before this next leg of the journey, but we may have to throw in a little Amharic because that's another To Do. Jiggeri yellem (Chigger yeh-LEM => No problem!)

Tomorrow He Turns Seven

Tomorrow, October 10, 2012, A turns seven. I know thousands of prospective adoptive parents have experienced this. Today we join them, and it is strange. I've always been a very fluid birthday person, celebrating on the exact day not necessary. I get this honest. Take the birthday when the hurricane passed by: eh, let's stick a candle in a bagel & try again on a different day. But for A, we won't even celebrate this year, never mind the first six.

We accept this part of the process and give thanks, because every year, there has been someone in his life who has tried their best to care for him. Every year, God has seen and known who would be with A as he grew. While I'm eager for him to join our family, I do not rejoice that this is possibly A's last year turning a year older in his beautiful birth country. Though we've not yet visited, we love Ethiopia and respect the culture and heritage God has granted our son. He may even choose for David to celebrate his 40th there. Could you make that surprise party?

More than throwing a birthday bash here, I look forward to meeting our little guy, kicking around the soccer ball, and sharing some injera and macaroni (his favorite foods). Forgive me for twisting the dagger a little more; this was not planned, but while I'm on the subject of Ethiopia, orphans and birthdays, I cannot pass up the opportunity to ask you to pray for a girl who is waiting for a family. Her name I can't share, but please pray for her to be chosen before she turns 16 this spring and passes the age allowed for adoption. On that day, her exact birth date will matter.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:22-27

So This Paper Walks Into a Courthouse

At this point in the process, we've signed, handled, carried, and shipped so many papers for approval, we've lost count. Today, however, our papers traveled to where no paper of ours has traveled before: an Ethiopian courthouse. Our case was officially submitted to "Court."

What does that mean, you ask? We're still getting a handle on it ourselves; but, basically we wait for the judge to review the application and set a date for a court hearing. We (David & Amy) will travel to Ethiopia for that court appointment with the judge to, ideally, be given permission to legally adopt A. I'll give more details later, but though we will have the privilege of meeting him on that trip, he will not attend the court meeting, know which child we have been matched with, and he will not travel home with us until our second trip for US Embassy clearance. 

It can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks for the judge to issue our court date, which should be 3-8 weeks out from the date we are notified. As with any stage of the international adoption process, this can change. We are excited, but I am slightly hyperventilating because there is still much to do! Thank you for your prayers. We look forward to sharing more with you soon.