I have been waiting for this update to come... I just had NO idea it would be this soon (and even THIS soon was still quite a wait for this impatient girl...) We submitted our application to AWAA on 6/26/2012...
This is the moment, here and now
To let love be our cause
And we say yes, yes Lord
Yes to anything You ask
As of 6/16/2013 we have accepted the referral for a precious 10(ish) year old boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, we can't share his picture or name till we pass court (which we are praying to happen before courts close August 6th!!!!!!!), but for now we will call him "E."
Say what???!!! You thought we had requested a 0-2 year old? Yeah, so did we. God had other plans, my friends! And we are SO thankful that He's got this whole thing in His hands- cause we definitely would have screwed it up on our own.
We surrender to the wonder
Of the story of redeeming love
So starting about the time we were DTE (3/29/13), God really started tugging on my heart to broaden our request. I didn't say anything to Chase, but just kept praying, "Lord, write it on the wall for me pleeeeease." I finally told Chase, of course he wasn't opposed, so then I really needed some clarity. I found myself telling everyone that asked about the wait, "Well it's about 24-30 months right now, unless we raise our age request... but we just don't think we can handle an older child, we're not even parents yet!" Over and over I was saying this till I finally started asking myself after these conversations, "Why not?"
After lots more prayer and discussion we decided, let's raise it to 0-4! Even 0-4 in my mind was getting a little crazy... at 4 years old this child would be speaking, thinking, have a mind of their own- and they would know that we have no idea what we are doing!!! We contacted our social worker and were getting the process started when I told her to wait, we really felt the Lord telling us to not stop there. We told her to let us pray about it some more and we would get back to her next week. Well, that Friday afternoon the Ethiopian adoption world got some scary news- a new process, PAIR, was being put into place. You can read about it here. Basically, with this new process, wait times were expected to increase to about 3-4 or more years for a young child and possibly cost more money because of the increased time children would be waiting in orphanages. That night I just about gave up. There was no way I was waiting another 4+ years.
Over the weekend Chase and I prayed and prayed. It didn't take long before I was reminded of our God's goodness, His promises, and that He was bigger than PAIR. We both knew then that we were in this for the long haul, but we definitely had to raise our age. Any case submitted to court after September 1st, under PAIR, would have on average about an 8-10 month time frame from referral to home. (Current time from referral to home is about 4-6 months.) This is just crazy, these kids have waited too long already.
We prayed about raising our age to 12 or 13, accepting special needs, when the Lord led us to "E". We can't go into much more detail due to confidentiality reasons and the privacy that is due to our precious boy. Just know that we are confident that the Lord has orchestrated this whole journey for us. A journey that has come about from profound brokenness in our sweet boy's life, but we are so thankful we listened to the Lord's call on our lives to be apart of this redemption story. We can't answer any questions about his family, health, history, or current location right now but we do desperately covet your prayers. For this soon to be mama who dreamed of a little girl to dress up, tote around shopping, and have tea parties with- I would give that all up a million times, this boy has stolen my heart. I am now dreaming of playing legos, cars and dinosaurs, kicking a soccer ball, and hoping he isn't already outrunning me so we can do races together (heck, I can run a 10 minute mile now!) This amazing boy that we haven't even met yet has my heart. This boy that we have prayed for before we knew his name or his face is going to sleep on the other side of the world knowing that he has a family tonight.
(I cannot wait until y'all can see his handsome face, but for now his cute little hands will have to do!)
We are trying to soak up as much wisdom and knowledge as we can over these next months. We know this road will be nothing but hard, but we also know the Lord will see us through that what He has called us to do.
We say yes
To the highest and farthest
We surrender to Your heart
To the lowest and the darkest
We surrender to Your heart
What happens next?
We are waiting on a court date in Ethiopia where we will travel to meet our son for the first time. Our prayer is that this date is before August 6th when courts close for about 6 weeks for rainy season. If we are not submitted by August 6th then due to the new PAIR process we would have to wait 8-10 months to bring him home. This boy has already waited long enough for his family, we are praying that everything goes smoothly for a court date. After court, we have to return home without him while we wait for clearance from embassy. This can take anywhere from 1-3 months or more. Our prayer is that he is home by Christmas, but sooner would be even better!!! We could really use your prayers over these next months...
Specific requests:
- He should have found out last night that he has a family. Pray that the Lord gives him a peace about the whole situation. While this is ultimately good news for his situation, he will still be leaving behind his country, culture, language, and friends. We pray the Lord would start preparing his heart for this huge transition.
- Please pray that God holds our son in his hands and comforts him over these next months. Pray for physical and mental strength.
- Pray for the caregivers at his home and the other children at the transition home. We are forever thankful for these "nannies" who have cared for our son. We also can't forget how many other children are there, still waiting on a family. Please pray that these children will find their forever families and that those who God calls will be obedient.
- Please pray for a court date by August 7th. This is so huge!!!! After this we pray for a speedy embassy clearance.
- Please pray for our financial situation. We thought we were going to have a couple yrs to raise the rest of the funds needed, we are trusting the Lord will provide.
- Lastly, please pray for wisdom and knowledge for us as first time parents. We have lots to learn about being parents, and also need to learn and prepare for adopting an older child, of a different race, from another country. Please pray for peace and patience as we prepare our home and hearts for this child we have been praying and waiting for.
I should apologize for the lengthy post, but I won't!!!!!!!! :)
Thanks for all your support, love, and prayers. Our family and friends have been amazing on this journey, we couldn't do it without you!!!
I should be posting a little more regularly now as we get any updates so be on the lookout!
Isaiah 40:30-31 - Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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.
*lyrics from "We Say Yes", by Stephen Miller
