My Head is Spinning!

Literally, Tim and I both feel sick tonight-mainly from the four vaccinations we received yesterday but also from the details around this trip we are trying to plan in a week.

If you haven't heard yet, I'd like to share some exciting news...we are going to Ethiopia next week!! We got the call yesterday telling us our court date has been assigned for August 2. We will need to be in the country by July 30 for some appointments to prepare for the court date.

We can hardly believe in a little over a week we will get to meet our daughter. Yesterday, I could not stop smiling and thanking God for answering our prayers to receive a court date before August 6 when the courts will be closing for 50 days for the rainy season. Today, I've come down from the cloud of bliss I was on yesterday, and I've landed with a thud on the floor of reality. We have so much to do in so little time.

This trip will be for the court date, so we will not get to bring our sweet daughter home with us. Typically, only 50% of the court cases pass on the first try, but we are praying we pass this time. Usually, what causes the case to fail is not within control of the adoptive families. It might be something as simple as a power outage that day in court or a birth relative was unable to make it. We are praying that God will bring all of the details together so that we can pass. Then, we would come back to Ethiopia in 6 to 8 weeks for the embassy date and to bring our daughter home.

I just continue to be overwhelmed with God's provisions and watching His hand work in our lives. He is providing loving and generous friends and family to watch our boys while we are gone. What a huge blessing it will be to us to know our boys are in good hands while we are apart. So many people have shared their excitement and support, and it warms our hearts so much.

Please pray for us on our trip. Pray for safe travel, for the boys while we are gone and those caring for them, for our first few days with our daughter, for us to pass court, and for our hearts as we say good-bye to our little girl and the other precious boys and girls waiting for their families.

If you would like to send something with us, I am going to be packing donations to take to our transition home and to some orphanages we will be visiting. Donations include used baby and children's clothing and shoes, OTC medication and vitamins for children, candy or granola bars, formula and diapers.

Thank you for sharing in this amazing journey with us. It is way beyond my comfort zone, but it is here that I am seeing God's glory in ways I've never seen. I'm reminded of a challenge I heard last year from a Beth Moore Bible study. She encouraged her readers to live a life of purpose, not of comfort.