"I Need You to Sit Down"

I would say, “You’re not going to believe this” but at this point I think you will. 

Yesterday we received a phone call from Sally, our contact person with the international adoption agency.  Staci answered and Sally said, “I need you to sit down.”  Staci’s heart sunk.  Must be bad news.  Staci said, “What’s wrong?”  Sally said nothing was wrong.  She told us that we needed to be in Addis for our court date on May 11^th.  Three weeks away.  Sally received the notice from Ethiopia the day before but didn’t call us because she couldn’t believe it herself.  She had to call and confirm one more time before letting us know.  Many families wait up to 8 months from the point they send their dossier to Ethiopia to the time they get a court date.  It took us 3 weeks.  Staci told Sally that we have hundreds of people following this story and praying for speed and removal of obstacles.  This is an unbelievable, undeniable answer to prayer.   

This, like many other steps in this process, has been a blessing to us.  What we anticipated to take 2 months, took two weeks for Immigration approval from the U.S.   Our Doctor worked us in weeks ahead of schedule due to a cancellation to initiate our long physicals and blood work.   Even the response when we initially decided to pursue adopting Sofani came within 12 hours from Girmay and we weren’t even sure we would get a response.  From Day 1 of prayer for this decision, we have been inexplicably led on this journey.   We were both, of course, pleasantly surprised with the court date.   After daily tracking of airfare through Expedia, we almost knew prior to checking that the flight costs would be down considerably for the first time since January.   We booked two round trip tickets today for $1200 less than we thought we were going to spend a week ago.

Last summer I felt very stagnant with my faith.  I was going through the motions.  I remember exactly what I asked God to do in my life one night.  Lying in bed I asked God to use me however He wanted.  I promised to say “yes” to whatever God had planned for my life.  I was finished doing what I wanted to do.  Within a month I was agreeing to a trip to Ethiopia.  In December I met my soon-to-be son after a series of unplanned, unexplainable events (including 2 car accidents in 2 different cities in Ethiopia in the same day).  In January we began the international adoption process with expectations that it would take a year and the hope that we would have Sofani by Christmas.  God is capable of making anything happen if you have faith and are willing to keep saying “yes.” 

Thank you for your prayers.  They’re working!  We are so thankful.

Nesting, Preparation and Big Smiles

Sofani's journey from Mikelle to Addis was a successful one and he's now residing in Jane's House, a transition home that works with our international adoption agency.  He is living there with a handful of other children waiting to be placed.  We have had several pictures sent to us from U.S. families that are visiting their soon-to-be children in Ethiopia.  We are very appreciative and hope to pay the favor forward to other wiating families when we travel in the months to come.

As far as the process goes, we're anxiously awaiting a court date to be set. At that point Staci and I will fly to Addis on our journey half way around the world. I am very excited to see Sofani again but more excited for Staci to finally meet him. This is going to be an awesome experience. We'll likely travel in early June but we're praying that it will be sooner.   Two months from our court date I will likely be traveling to pick him up and bring him home as our 4th child.  I'm pumped!

As we prepare for Sofani's arrival Staci's father, Tom, has been working for weeks to build a 4-person bunkbed system equipped with shelves and drawers for Jackson and Sofani's room.  Papaw Tom has designed and manufactured this incredible piece of furniture for the boys and their friends to enjoy. My dad, Jay, has also helped us with painting and wallpapering.  Staci's project list has dwindled as we've chipped away at getting rooms ready, storage areas cleared and everything set for Sofani's arrival.  Staci is officially nesting.  It brings back memories from all 3 pregnancies.  It's no different.  I have been grinding away trying to learn Amharic (the native language of Ethiopia) on CD while I'm traveling.  Needless to say Avery is moving at a much faster pace learning words and phrases than her old man.

Sofani is such a special boy.  You can see his amazing spirit, kindness and joyful personality in these pictures.  Please keep Sofani in your prayers.  Pray for his safety, peace of mind and confidence as he takes this leap of faith to join our family.  I would also ask that you pray for us as we prepare for his arrival and that the process continues to move at a rapid pace.  We're so excited!