October 29, 2013

awaiting USA, day 21. "no big deal!"

If it's not one thing it's another! Chase came down with flu-like symptoms last night. Chills, fever, aching all over. Eliyas also felt like he had a fever before he went to bed last night so I gave him some Tylenol. This morning, Eliyas woke up complaining of a stomach ache and headache and I was barely able to get him out of bed to go to the hospital for his stinking pills. I had the pediatrician look at him there. He said, "He is having conjunctivitis and a sore throat, he has the flu." I didn't know conjunctivitis was a symptom of the flu? I mentioned Chase's symptoms to him and he said, "Oh, we must test him for malaria." This is the panel physician that is responsible for Eliyas' TB diagnosis, needless to say he's not my favorite person so I didn't think too much of the malaria comment right then. He did say that he and the CDC have exchanged 19 emails and our waiver approval "seems possible." He said he told them his opinion, that he thinks he is at low risk for transmission. Thankful for that!

Once we got back to the guest house, Eliyas' head was hurting, Chase was still feeling bad, and I was exhausted from no sleep the night before, so we all laid around all day. By 7pm Chase was feeling worse, fever started back up and he said his neck was stiff. I called a doctor off the US Embassy's website and he advised us to go to the ER immediately as we was concerned about the possibility of meningitis. He was such a nice guy, has kids that live in Dallas and considered himself an honorary Texan! He also happens to be a TB specialist and said he thinks E must have had a false positive in the sputum test. Wish the US government would listen to doctors instead of insisting he take all this medicine! Anyways, that's another story... A hospital he recommended, St. Gabriel Hospital, is literally right around the corner from us so after some convincing Chase we made our way over there. One hour and $40 later, we found out that he did not have meningitis, praise the Lord!!! But he does have typhus. When the doctor told us, I pretty much yelled at him, "TYPHOID FEVER??!!!" He explained that no, it's not typhoid fever, and it's actually very common here in Ethiopia! "It's not a big deal!" Sheesh... nothing is a big deal here! The pediatrician that gave us the news of Eliyas' results told me, "Madam, it's not a big deal, TB is very common here!" What isn't common here??! Really sad to think about all Ethiopian people go through and are exposed to on a regular basis. :( Turns out typhus is caused by flea or lice bites and he did have some kind of bites on his feet. Thinking it might have come from the beautiful Gorge we visited- as the place was covered in bugs. Also read incubation time is 5-14 days and we are right in that window now, went to the Gorge 8 days ago. We will be wearing bug spray every day from now on! Can I tell you how thankful I am that it is nothing more serious?! They gave us some doxycycline and said he should be better in no time! And one hour, in an out of an ER, for only $40 including meds, you can't beat that!! 


In other news, our waiver was delivered this morning! We finally found out last night that we should have mailed the documents as originally planned. We were told for the last 7 days to keep waiting to hear from someone because there was the possibility of needing it sent to us in Addis to take to embassy. Turns out plan A was correct, and we could have mailed it last Monday, but it is at least where it needs to be now!

We are praying for the people that are processing our envelope, that they get it to the correct place in a speedy manner! We were told it could be as short as a couple days before it get to the correct desk. Praying for the person who will be approving our waiver, that they understand all the facts and have a sense of urgency in helping get us home! 

I'll keep this post short, but am not going to hesitate to ask for your prayers for the following:

- Please pray for our health, that Chase starts feeling better soon, Eliyas gets better/stays healthy, and that I stay healthy!
- Pray for our time here in Ethiopia, that we have a great time bonding during Eliyas' last days in his home country. 
- For all 3 of us during this transition, for Eliyas' heart as he is about to leave all he knows and for us as we seek wisdom and guidance to be the best parents for our sweet son we have been entrusted with.
- And lastly, please pray that our waiver is processed quickly! We are praying for and expecting a miracle!

We can't thank you enough for your prayers and support over the last 21 days. The kindness of friends, family, and strangers back home has been overwhelming. We are so thankful!

October 26, 2013

ethiopia. day 18.

my foes are many, they rise against me
but i will hold my ground
i will not fear the war, i will not fear the storm
my help is on the way, my help is on the way


When we landed in Addis at sunrise on October 9th, I never imagined we would still be here 18 days later. That morning, I was concerned about having to stay an extra day or 2 and having to change our flights. Ha. If I only knew...


 



My last post left us headed to embassy on Wednesday the 16th to get some direction from them on our next steps. We were praying for a huge miracle, for embassy to clear us to travel in spite of the Class A classification. Thanks to a contact made by mom, Congressman Kevin Brady, who has been so helpful these last couple of weeks, made a call to the ambassador to Ethiopia in regards to our case. The ambassador made the consular general aware of our case and when we walked into embassy Wednesday morning they were waiting for us and were very aware of all that was going on. The consular and his associate were very kind, compassionate, and understanding. It was such a relief to finally talk to another English speaking American person who cared. I was totally expecting just to be another name, another case on their desk. Unfortunately, they couldn't just overlook the diagnosis as we were hoping, but they did give us hope that the waiver would be approved and that it could be as short as 1-2 weeks. They assured us they would do everything to expedite it once it was submitted to USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services). They sort of acted like it was no big deal, so this gave us big hopes for the waiver getting approved. It finally felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We spent the rest of the evening completing what we needed to on our end, then handed the waiver off to my mom for the final legwork of collecting local and state health official signatures. We went to bed very hopeful that night!

oh, my God, He will not delay
my refuge and strength always

i will not fear, His promise is true

 my God will come through always, always

A little side not here about this day... To be honest, we have had some rocky days with Eliyas. He is figuring us out, we are figuring him out, he is getting used to having people telling him what to do and having rules and boundaries. It's expected. Any attempts at "conversations" or "talking" to him had not really gone over very well. He wasn't exactly talking to us very much or liking us very much. All that to say, we had to make a couple of trips to embassy that day and the second time we waited in a long line before we even got in. Once we got in and sat down I told him that we appreciated how patient he was being, that we know it's no fun to wait in lines and sit around. I told him that we've had to do a lot of waiting, a lot of work, and a lot of stuff that is no fun, but that we would do it all over again, that he was worth it all and we were never giving up on him. I figured I would get the usual brick wall response, but he turned to me and gave me a huge smile. It was so good for my heart. He gets it... After we were done at embassy he was playing around on Chase's phone and pulled up music somehow, the second song on the playlist was "Whom Shall I Fear (Angel Armies)" by Chris Tomlin. "And nothing formed against me shall stand, You hold the whole world in Your hands, I'm holding onto Your promises, You are faithful, You are faithful..." Such a sweet reminder that God is for us and He is faithful.

trouble surrounds me, chaos abounding
my soul will rest in You
i will not fear the war, i will not fear the storm
my help is on the way, my help is on the way


My mom spent the rest of the week tracking down health officials and we were put in touch with an organization who specializes in advocating for special adoption cases like ours. They told us that we might have a way to just send the waiver electronically and to hold off submitting the waiver via regular mail until we heard from someone at USCIS. My mom got the last signature she needed on Monday 10/21 and we were still waiting to hear from the USCIS contact on how to submit the waiver... to make a long story short, it is now Saturday 10/26 and we are still waiting to submit it. This is driving us absolutely crazy, we feel like we are just wasting time with it just sitting, not being submitted. We have been instructed over and over not to send it the normal way because it will cause delays. Last night we got a call from someone at USCIS that someone else would be calling us on Monday (they were out Friday) with instructions on submitting it. The question is if we will mail it as normal or if we will have the originals submitted at US Embassy in Addis. She sounded like the embassy route would be quicker for us in the long run because embassy could submit it 
to be expedited somehow. If that is the case, my mom will have to overnight the originals to a traveling adoptive family to bring to us in Addis. The next possible person to send it to won't be in Addis till Friday... so we will be 3.5 weeks in and just submitting the waiver. :-/ This makes us so anxious, but we are trying really hard to rest completely in the fact that God is in control. Not us, not USCIS, not embassy, not anyone. ~Jeremiah 29:11-14 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.~

i lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord...
from You Lord, from You Lord

Someone has asked for us to share what we do with our days here (great idea Kim :)) so I will try to give a short recap of what we have been up to! I think we all know the first few days were spent running from hospital, to lab, to embassy, crying in our room, Chase sleeping off his sickness, eating Zebra Grill take-away (as they call it here) almost every meal, and E playing lots of video games. Sunday morning, things started looking up. Chase was feeling almost 100% better, I had renewed hope, Eliyas was in an especially good mood and talking to us a little more, and my sweet friend Ashley and her husband arrived to Addis to pick up their son to bring him home! Along with Ashley's family, there was another dad, David, staying at the guest house picking up his 2 boys. Ashley's son and these 2 are close in age to Eliyas so they had a blast together. They spent every waking moment they could together playing soccer, playing video games, watching TV/movies, telling jokes... it was so sweet to see them interacting together. Always huddled around each other, touching, hugging, holding hands, arms draped around shoulders.  



I think it was Monday of that week that Chase and Eliyas went to play golf with David and his 2 boys. Who knew there was a golf course in Addis Ababa? They had a great time. Chase got a sunburn and Eliyas is still asking to go again! (Can I tell you how cute it is when he says "golf" with his little Ethiopian accent?!) There were lots of boys v. dads soccer tournaments at the guest house that week! I think the dads even won a few times! I don't think I can describe how sweet it was to watch these 4 older boys play soccer with their new dads. Something they probably could not have imagined a few months ago. So thankful for a God who redeems! On Tuesday we had lunch at a yummy, American feeling burger place, Sishu, with our friend from Canada and his 3 Ethiopian sons followed by an afternoon at the Hilton. It was one of David's son's birthdays, what better way to spend it than swimming at the Hilton?! It felt like home, enough so that I even dared to have ice in my drink! We ended the night with dinner at Top View. It was a really nice place that again, felt very American, with good food and good prices. At the nicer restaurants we have been to in Ethiopia, you still don't pay more than $5 a plate!



We got to spend one evening at Habesha 2000 where he had dinner and a show! Traditional dinner accompanied by traditional dancing- SO entertaining. We got to go last trip and were so excited to bring Eliyas back. The kids got a kick out of it (after E got over the original embarrassment of it! lol) and we had a great time! Other than these particular events, our typical days start with breakfast at the guest house- sauteed vegetables, pancakes, another fried pastry, some type of cake, toast, fresh squeezed pineapple or orange juice, horrible coffee (what the heck?! We are in the birthplace of coffee!!) and bananas or cantaloupe. (Oh and some type of deli looking meat and cheese, along with some type of oatmeal looking stuff?) Basically a lot of carbs and sugar, as is with every meal in Ethiopia! Most days we go to lunch with other families at one of a handful of restaurants that AWAA frequents. Almost all restaurants here serve pizza, pasta, and sometimes a handful of traditional foods or hamburger. You spend a lot of time in the car getting anywhere- traffic has been really bad this trip! No A/C means the windows are open to get a breeze and you are constantly breathing in all the exhaust and dust, along with smelling the herds of sheep or the livestock place on the side of the road. We've both had cold/allergy symptoms for a few days that we figure is from all the junk outside. Our afternoons have been mostly spent at the guest house, playing soccer and also basketball now that Chase constructed a basketball goal! We order in Zebra Grill pretty frequently for dinner, much to my dismay, and have found a new cafe that we like to walk to that serves a yummy spaghetti with meat sauce for less than $2 and a delicious macchiato for less than 50 cents!

We have started Eliyas' TB treatment, as required by the CDC, and it has to be given at the hospital every morning before 9am. I believe we get to thank the CDC for that lovely requirement. So we get to spend $15 for a cab every morning to sit in traffic all to have E take 2 pills! By we, I mean Chase... most mornings I sleep in while this is going on. :) We have said goodbye to about 8 families since we have been here. I am so happy for everyone that is going home and families being completed, but it is really hard to say goodbye every time, wondering when we will ever get our turn. As my new friend Tiffany reminded me, at least we are getting to meet lots of cool people! :) And we really are. It is truly a blessing to be surrounded by all these wonderful families who are all here with the same end goal. We will leave Ethiopia with a lot more friends than we had before! :) Tonight, as we said goodbye to a family, E told Chase, "No America. Me, you, mom, live in Ethiopia." Chase said, "What about our families? They will be sad!" E said, "They are weak." Funny story, but I pray this isn't all too confusing for him! 

We got to visit the BEAUTIFUL Gorge last week. They call it Ethiopia's Grand Canyon and it was breathtaking. It is a 2 hour scenic drive outside of the city, with beautiful views of the countryside, and no fumes or exhaust to bother you! I did get a little carsick, but nothing a little Dramamine couldn't fix! We hiked around the mountain and just so happened to get attacked by huge hawk looking birds that we found out later were eagles! I was walking with foil wrapped sandwiches in my hand when one knocked me on my shoulder and hit the sandwiches out of my hand! If you know me and how I'm scared of bugs, you can only imagine how freaked out I was to be hit by a ginormous bird!! Later, Chase was eating his sandwich under the bridge when one swooped down and scratched his hand, thank goodness he didn't let go of the sandwich! :) We discovered E is quite the daredevil. He liked to get close to the edges of the cliffs and scare us to death, run up and down the steep hills and rocks... he's not like his dad at ALL!!! ;-) We also got to see baboons up close and personal! That was neat!







We decided to intrude on one of Eliyas' friends going away party at the orphanage and had a combined going away party on Thursday 10/24. We had been holding off on it, since a going away wasn't exactly for sure, but we decided to go ahead and do it and just tell the US government, "Sorry! We have to leave now, we've had the going away party!!" It was our first trip back to Abenezer since picking E up the first day and I wasn't prepared for how emotional it was going to be for me! Eliyas got out of the van and started making his rounds hugging and kissing every kid and nanny he saw. He went from room to room hugging and kissing older kids, toddlers, and babies. It really hit me that this has been his family. This is all he's known for the last 15 months. And as far as orphanages go, I would have to say it is one of the best. 





I can't even tell you how special the party was. It started off by Eliyas (and the other 2 kids that were leaving) getting changed into a traditional outfit. Then the party started and all the other kids presented them with pictures they drew, along with a big hug. The nannies and staff prayed over our kids and families in Amharic. I have no idea what was being said, but it was so emotional for me! We could not have asked for a better place for Eliyas to be before we could get to him. They love these kids and it shows. The older kids did a couple of dances to music in Amharic, it was so sweet. And a party isn't a party without cake and snacks! They had cakes made with their names in Amharic, along with other homemade snacks and sodas. It was such a sweet and thoughtful ceremony and a day I'm sure Eliyas will never forget. Thankfully, we know quite a few of the parents of the kids that have families, so we will be able to keep the kids in touch throughout the years. Something they probably never imagined possible! 





I should add that this last week has brought us more good days with Eliyas. The walls are starting to come down and we are starting to see more of our sweet, funny, loving boy. He is voluntarily giving hugs and "I love yous" and jokes with us, this is quite the change from last week. He is learning to understand that we sometimes have to say no and make him do things he doesn't want to and we are learning how to make him feel secure, loved, and reassured. We are all learning more about each other every day, and let me tell you, we have so much to learn from him. 

If anyone is still reading this, I will close here. Some people have asked if there is a way to help with the financial aspect of this unexpected extended stay. We cannot thank you all enough for your support and prayers! Our dear friends have set up a PayPal account to accept donations on our behalf. If you are interested in helping us this way, you can find the link along with more information at bestlocalinfo.com. Can I tell you what a blessing this is to us? While we are here, the costs are piling on by the day while Chase's income has completely stopped. You would think it would be cheap to stay in a third world country, but it is costing us about $200 a day. We are trusting that the Lord will provide and see us through! Please feel free to share our story and the link above with anyone you think might feel led to support us through monetary means or even more importantly, prayer!

We are praying for a final answer on how to submit the waiver on Monday and for it to be approved soon after! We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers. Please, please don't stop now. We are amazed on a daily basis by our great God who is working all of this for our good and His glory. We are trusting in His great plan! Check back next week for an update!

Isaiah 40:31
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

October 13, 2013

and though my heart is torn i will praise you in this storm

i was sure by now,
God you would have reached down
and wiped our tears away
stepped in and saved the day
but once again, i say amen, and it's still raining


Just wanted to give an update on where we are... I will try to make this quick, but I have a feeling it might not be. You've been warned. :) First and foremost, we do not have the words to express how thankful we are for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, offers of assistance, reaching out to contacts, etc. We are completely overwhelmed by everyone back home (and in Canada, and maybe even elsewhere!) interceding for us during this trying week. God has used you all to remind us that He hasn't left us, He is in every detail, and He is holding our world in his hands. Some days, some minutes, or hours, it is hard for me to truly accept what I know to be true, but the scripture, encouragement, and prayers from others are serving as a mighty reminder of what an awesome God we serve. We know He is hearing every cry, and He has a great plan even when we can't see it. ~Psalm 34: 17-18 - When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.~


as the thunder rolls
i barely hear your whisper through the rain
"i'm with you"
and as your mercy falls
i raise my hands and praise the God who gives
and takes away

When I last left off, we were headed to the hospital the next day to find his test results. I hadn't really given much thought to "worst case scenario # 4", as it was too dreadful to think about, and our agency has never had a positive sputum test. So I figured there is no way our healthy boy could possibly be the first!!! So just to give you a good story of what the norm is here... Thursday morning the in-country staff made a call to the lab to see what the status was. The lab said the results were sent to the hospital and they could not give her any more information, we would have to contact the hospital. We arrive at the hospital at 11:15... we waited 40 minutes for someone to come down and lead us to "where we needed to go." We arrive at an office, and the nurse is asleep at her desk!! I kid you not. I said to Chase, "Oh this is going to be a good story for later!" We have been waiting over a week + 40 minutes in this hospital and you are sleeping at your desk? TIA folks, TIA. She tells us that no, the lab had not sent the results and we would need to go upstairs to talk to someone else. We get to another nurse upstairs who, after making a few phone calls, determined the results were going to be here "in 30 minutes." Of course we didn't trust that, so we told her we would go ahead and head down to the lab. 

After a 30 minute drive we arrived at the lab and they first tell us that they had already been sent to the hospital last week. Umm....what??!!! After further investigation, oh no, they weren't sent, "We will have them for you in 5 minutes." After another 30 minutes they tell us that actually, they can only release the results to the hospital, they can't tell us anything. They agreed to give the sealed results to our agency's nurse that was with us to drive directly to the hospital. They say this will take another 30 minutes. By that time it was past 2pm and we were all hungry, so we went to grab lunch while the nurse waited on the results. A little while later we get a call that oh, no, the nurse wasn't allowed to drive the results after all, but a courier is taking the results to the hospital and wait on a call from the hospital to let you know they're there.

At about 3pm we got a call from our in-country staff saying the doctor wants us to come to the hospital immediately. I had a sense that something was wrong, why all the sudden do they want us there immediately? Still, I held out hope till we walked upstairs and our agency's nurse was waiting on us. She led us to the doctor and said, "Good luck, I think it's best that I take Eliyas to play while you talk." I immediately lost it, as I knew what she meant, and thought I was surely going to throw up. It didn't take long before the doctor told us that our son has active TB. I remember sobbing so loudly and him telling me, "Madam, it's not a big deal. TB is totally treatable." Through the tears I told him it was not going to be "treatable" for us to be apart for 6 months... he then made it worse by telling us that actually, it would be 6 months of treatment + a 9 week retest. I don't remember much else of the conversation other than he was surprised by the results, as his skin test was negative and his chest x-ray was clean. But he would not budge from giving him a "Class A" classification which meant he was not clear to travel. 

We begged and pleaded and cried, but that was it... he told us a waiver was unlikely due to his age and that he would not recommend him for travel. We asked how likely it was that he was contagious and he said very unlikely, since he is a child and has absolutely no symptoms. We told him how that made no sense then, that he would not change the classification and he blamed it on the CDC. So I then asked him how we even know that these are the correct test results. His file read "Elias X"!! He showed me his picture inside his file and said that is how they know... I explained the mix-up last week with our agency being given info on "another Eliyas" and he assured me that this was not a mix-up. I kept repeating Romans 12:12 to myself as I was sitting in that chair, "be patient in tribulation, be patient in tribulation, be patient in tribulation..." 


and i'll praise You in this storm
and i will lift my hands
for You are who You are 
no matter where i am
and every tear i've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
i will praise You in this storm

We made it back to our guest house and I spent the rest of the evening trying to keep it together. I cannot even wrap my mind around 9 months without him. How on earth can we abandon him here for 9 months? We promised him we would be together forever the day before, and that he would never sleep in an orphanage bed again. How would he ever trust us if we left him? We contacted our agency, who made contacts for us, and tried to start making contacts with congressmen and anyone else back home who might be able to help. I should make it clear that this is the US government causing this hold up. Ethiopia could care less if he travels. The "panel physician" has strict CDC guidelines to follow and cannot change his classification or recommend him for travel because he did test positive for mycobacterium tuberculosis in his culture. All of this hold up is from our government, who is partially shutdown. We were told again that evening by several people that a waiver is unlikely because his "paper age" is over 10. To top it all off, Chase had been feeling horrible since we landed Wednesday and was feeling even worse on Thursday. So unfortunately, he was pretty much out of it once we got back. I felt like I was all alone trying to fight this battle, during my first week of parenthood!  I prayed that this would all miraculously be over in the morning when we went to embassy, that they would agree it was a mistake and we would be on our way next Tuesday. That night, I had a nightmare that all this was happening, only to wake up to find out it wasn't a nightmare.

i remember when 
i stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and You raised me up again
my strength is almost gone
how can i carry on
if i can't find you

Friday morning, we set out to the hospital to beg the doctor to change his classification. He wouldn't budge so we headed over to embassy to see if we could get some answers from them. To add to the nurse that was asleep at her desk the day before, the girl at the desk at embassy that was "too busy to see us" that day (we just went anyways) was on Facebook when we arrived. Seriously? We made our way to window #2 and I only got a few sentences out before the guy asked, "Are you Kerlin family?" I said yes and he told me that they couldn't see us today. There was only one person that would be able to help us and they were out, and don't we know that embassy closes at 12 on Fridays? Conveniently, they are also closed Monday for Columbus Day, and Tuesday for some Muslim holiday. "We will see you Wednesday afternoon! Thank you, have a good day!" I told him thank you as the tears poured. The only upside to this trip was that they had the nicest bathroom in all of Ethiopia, I could have cried in there all day.

i lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
my help comes from the Lord
the Maker of heaven and earth

We headed back to the guest house after that. Chase was feeling even worse and slept until dinner time and I let Eliyas play too many video games and watch too much TV while I spent the afternoon trying to hide tears and trying not to be too angry. I was angry. Angry at God, angry at the doctor, angry at the embassy, angry at the government, angry at Ethiopia for having such a high rate of TB ("Madam, over 50% of people in Ethiopia have TB, it's really not that big of a deal," the doctor told me.) I just about lost all hope that afternoon. I knew in my head that none of this was surprising God, but I was having a hard time believing that He hadn't forgotten us. How could this be happening?? 

Throughout the day, family and friends prayed, sent encouraging messages and scriptures, and asked for prayer on our behalf. I can tell you that just as I thought I was going to come apart at the seams, your prayers and encouragement held me together. (I keep saying I, because Chase was literally dead to the world for the entire day after we got back from embassy. That didn't help anything at all!) Friends and family all throughout the day were making contacts and trying to help find all 3 of us a fast way home! We are so grateful for those of you who did lots of legwork on our behalf! We went to bed that evening knowing that friends and family were going to be gathering at my parent's church to pray for us while we were sleeping that night. We prayed for miracles to take place and at that point, we mostly needed peace, renewed hope, and healing for Chase so he could help me through this nightmare! 

I woke up Saturday to some good news from a couple different people. One specifically is a fellow adoptive mama that we met in Ethiopia last trip. She is from Canada, not with our agency, and just happened to be picking up her beautiful daughter while we were there visiting Eliyas. Just in the last couple of weeks we have connected on Facebook and I had a message from her that she had been tracking down people throughout the night and had some very positive news from some people who have just recently had the same experience-- with a good outcome!!! She got me in touch with a mom who has been an amazing resource so far and has given me such hope that we might have a chance at a waiver. It might take a while (7 weeks for them), but I finally had hope that we might not have to leave our boy for 9 months. It wasn't till later on that evening that I realized, wow, God is in every detail. Had our paths not briefly crossed in Ethiopia a couple of months ago, she would have never been able to connect me with this contact! It was a good reminder that He hasn't left us, He's not giving up on us, and He is working out every detail. ~Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.~ Colossians 1:17 - And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.~

Today has been a good day. I have more hope, more peace, Chase is feeling better for the most part, and Eliyas has been especially cheerful and in a good mood. To top it all off, my friend Ashley arrived in Ethiopia with her husband to pick up her handsome boy to bring him home!! We have been online friends since about the time we got E's referral, and I am so thrilled that we got to meet in our sons' home country! I am going to bed this evening with the 2 guys I love most in the world sleeping under the same roof and I know that we serve a mighty God who has this whole thing under control. ~James 1: 2-4 - Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.~

Thank you for your prayers friends, we ask you to please not stop now. We go back to embassy Wednesday morning and we are hoping and praying for a miracle!



**lyrics to Casting Crowns' "Praise You In This Storm"



October 9, 2013

together forever

View of Addis from the roof of our guest home!

This might be short... I'm running off of airplane sleep and the socket the laptop is plugged into has occasional sparks coming out of it. No big deal, right? 

Here is a little background of where we are with our "Embassy Trip." Most families clear court, come home, and wait around to hear from embassy that they have cleared and can come back for their child. Generally speaking, families don't leave the country for their trip without having clearance from embassy- families "generally" clear within 6-8 weeks of court. Our case requires a certain TB test (one that takes 9 weeks...in Africa...we're told it's like days or maybe a couple weeks in the US?) be completed before we can clear embassy. October 4th marked the 9 week mark and we heard from a couple of previous families that had the same test requirement and their results came in a few days early, so we thought for sure the 10th week was safe to travel. We had already received the e-mail from embassy saying our case was cleared pending the test results, so we knew we weren't held up on the investigation side, whew! (Even our travel coordinator with our agency agreed she thought it was safe to travel, and let me tell you, our agency will NEVER assume or lead you to believe something is one way if they don't absolutely think it is. There are a whole lot of "we hope to hear" and "we typically see" thrown around in e-mails from our agency. Don't get me wrong, we love AWAA. Just nature of the beast, they don't want to get your hopes up if there's no reason to. And I am thankful for that.) So a simple test result...shouldn't take any longer than 9 weeks give a day or 2 right? That would just be too easy!

So, as most of you know, we (Oh let's be honest, me. Does Chase ever freak out?) started our trip to Ethiopia Tuesday morning slightly freaking out because we got a call as we were boarding the airplane that Eliyas' test results were basically MIA. We were told last week they were to be in last Wednesday and handed over to embassy by Friday, Oct 4th. Had that happened we could have potentially walked into embassy today and been free and clear. We found out yesterday morning that they were given information meant for another Eliyas. (Really?) They're not sure the status of our Eliyas' results. Could be as late as Monday according to our America office, and the Ethiopia office says they were told another 2 weeks. Ayayaye... The only thing that is keeping me sane is the fact that God has this in His hands. None of this is surprising Him. It is hard for me to accept that and it is hard for my heart to believe it right now, but my head believes that everything will fall into God's perfect timing. 

Often times, I like to believe that "Jill Timing" is perfect, and I am humbled and reminded time and time and again that it's not. There are a few "worst case scenarios" running through "Jill's head" right now... #1 would be results come in Monday, given to embassy Tuesday, we could leave the country as soon as Thursday. This would be the case IF embassy wasn't closed Monday & Tuesday like we have been told!!! So #2 is delaying our flight and leaving the country as soon as Friday ... #3, the results take another 2 weeks and we leave in 2.5 weeks or so... #4, the results come back positive. Then I have no idea what happens. I haven't wanted to ask that question yet. I feel like I remember reading somewhere that they have to be treated for 6 months before they can enter the US, but I am hoping and praying that is wrong and ULTIMATELY praying that doesn't matter! And I know, I know, that I should not be worrying about these things that I can't control, but the devil likes to sneak in and do these things to me. We have spent much time in prayer and will continue, and we have SO many back home (THANK YOU!) praying for us, I know this is the most important thing right now. Romans 12:12 has been my verse throughout our adoption process, and I am claiming it more than ever. "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." 

Now, I know, in light of lots of other families who have been waiting longer, waiting on more ridiculous delays than us, being in country with our amazing son might not sound that bad... and when you look at it that way it's not. At all. I am SO thankful we are here with him, and honestly, I feel like we have to be here to get these results figured out. But we did 3 unexpected weeks here last time, and it was hard. It's going to be even harder if that happens now that we technically should be getting the heck outta dodge WITH him! Enough whining about that. (Can I blame it on jet lag?) 

We landed at about 6:30am and rushed through the airport as fast as we could to go GET our boy, not just meet him this time!!! We got to the orphanage and looked all over for him. We were then told he had gone to the barber to get his haircut... seriously? He had 10 weeks to get his haircut and they wait until THIS morning?! :) "TIA" folks. ("This is Africa." We have to keep telling ourselves that at least once an hour while we're here.) It was only a few minutes before he walked through that gate and we saw his beautiful smile again!!! Together forever. It was very surreal. After spending some time playing Uno with his friends and hanging out, it was time for us to go to lunch, and this time we got to take him with us--- with no plan of return! It was very surreal, as we walked through the orphanage I asked if he had anything he wanted to bring with him. He went to his shared room and grabbed the two photo albums we had sent while we were waiting. All of his life as he knows it is left behind, his new American clothes and photo album are all he left with. Wow. I only have tears to describe the reality of that. The thought of him never returning to that orphanage bed... wow. He truly is an orphan no more. Lots of emotions today- mostly gratitude and joy for our family finally being complete. Lots of tears of joy watching God's redemption story unfold. I just kept tearing up as I would look at his sweet face, newly shaved hair, and beautiful smile. So thankful for a God who redeems, and a God who has a better plan than we could have ever imagined. 


Together forever!
Oh, how I missed that smile!!!

Love watching him play soccer with his dad!


We would love your prayers during our final steps of this part of the journey... Please pray that when we walk in the hospital doors tomorrow, the results are located, and we clear embassy just as soon as possible after that. But most importantly, please pray that we just simply rest in God's timing. He is more than able. Please also pray for our time here bonding with our son. We've read lots of books on attachment, adopting older children, etc... but now it is go time. Please pray that the Lord gives us guidance and we seek Him for direction as we learn how to parent our sweet son. We pray that we are sensitive to what Eliyas is going through and patient as we walk what we know will likely be some rough roads ahead. We pray that God be glorified in our journey. What we are doing is possible only because we were first adopted as God's children-- Galations 4:4-5 "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." 

Oops... I said this might be short. Sorry. :) I should head to bed if I'm going to beat jet lag this trip too! 

Did I mention my SON is sleeping just a few feet away from me? All really is well.