Friday, January 18, 2008
Good News from Friends
The Breedloves and Jocelyn passed court this week, and we are so thankful that they're soon to be on their way to bringing their babies home. Both Amy and Jocelyn have been such supportive friends to us through everything--the good and the bad--and we rejoice with them today! It's a little bittersweet knowing they're going to be seeing Abenezer before we are, but I'm so happy at the thought that he's going to get hugs and kisses from Jocelyn and Amy so soon. Both these women have hearts of solid gold. Congratulations and Godspeed, you guys!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Appeal
They don't call adoption an emotional roller-coaster for nothing. We'd had about a 5% hope of the decision just being overturned, but it seems this is a legal impossibility. I'd been riding high the last couple of days on that slim hope--had a bit of a crash this morning where I just laid in bed in a funk.
So I'm pulling myself out of the funk and looking at the bright side:
1. Everyone involved in this case is getting first-hand experience in the as-yet unexplored, murky territory of the Ethiopian court of appeal. This could be useful information for the future, no?
2. With the influx of new agencies being licensed in Ethiopia in the last year or two, judges seem to be growing more skeptical about all this activity, as they should be. Imagine if the citizens of wealthy, foreign countries started trying to adopt American kids--don't you think our judges would be pretty strict, even erring on the side of caution? I would hope so, and thinking about it in this way helps me have patience with the "powers that be" in Addis Ababa.
3. As for our particular case, we were told that the judge will now be writing her official report today or tomorrow, which we're hoping will now be "softened" thanks to the truth presented in Wednesday's meeting.
4. Once the judge hands the report off to the lawyers, we were told that our court date for the appeal should happen within two weeks. If we had been assigned just another court date (not an appeal), we might have to wait longer.
5. Everyone involved in Abenezer's case, including the Ministry of Womens' Affairs, is advocating for this adoption to happen. It is good that apparently there is only one dissenting voice, and that one may have been softened, thanks to the truth presented in this most recent meeting.
6. Abenezer is still being given the best care available in the Gladney foster home. We're told he's happy as a clam, smiles constantly, and lets out little squeaky "gasps" when he's excited.
7. I'm indulging my "half-empty" side less and less. Ok, I did for a few hours this morning, laying in bed with an angrily racing heart, having fitful dreams, but at least I finally got out of bed. And I'm learning that I don't have to feel guilty about laughing at things that are funny, things like this and this. In fact, it's even therapeutic to find things to laugh at.
8. A dear friend and her 3-year-old light a candle in their church every week for Abenezer, and she's teaching him what it means "to pray for something really big." I'd say that building faith in the heart of a 3-year-old is pretty important and wonderful.
9. As all this drags on, I sometimes find it unbearable to think about this chunk of Abenezer's life we're missing out on, how we're missing the squeaky laughs from those fat cheeks. But here's my one consolation: all kids want to know that they were wanted, but if all this ends with Abenezer getting to come home to us, he'll get to grow up knowing that he was fought for.
So I'm pulling myself out of the funk and looking at the bright side:
1. Everyone involved in this case is getting first-hand experience in the as-yet unexplored, murky territory of the Ethiopian court of appeal. This could be useful information for the future, no?
2. With the influx of new agencies being licensed in Ethiopia in the last year or two, judges seem to be growing more skeptical about all this activity, as they should be. Imagine if the citizens of wealthy, foreign countries started trying to adopt American kids--don't you think our judges would be pretty strict, even erring on the side of caution? I would hope so, and thinking about it in this way helps me have patience with the "powers that be" in Addis Ababa.
3. As for our particular case, we were told that the judge will now be writing her official report today or tomorrow, which we're hoping will now be "softened" thanks to the truth presented in Wednesday's meeting.
4. Once the judge hands the report off to the lawyers, we were told that our court date for the appeal should happen within two weeks. If we had been assigned just another court date (not an appeal), we might have to wait longer.
5. Everyone involved in Abenezer's case, including the Ministry of Womens' Affairs, is advocating for this adoption to happen. It is good that apparently there is only one dissenting voice, and that one may have been softened, thanks to the truth presented in this most recent meeting.
6. Abenezer is still being given the best care available in the Gladney foster home. We're told he's happy as a clam, smiles constantly, and lets out little squeaky "gasps" when he's excited.
7. I'm indulging my "half-empty" side less and less. Ok, I did for a few hours this morning, laying in bed with an angrily racing heart, having fitful dreams, but at least I finally got out of bed. And I'm learning that I don't have to feel guilty about laughing at things that are funny, things like this and this. In fact, it's even therapeutic to find things to laugh at.
8. A dear friend and her 3-year-old light a candle in their church every week for Abenezer, and she's teaching him what it means "to pray for something really big." I'd say that building faith in the heart of a 3-year-old is pretty important and wonderful.
9. As all this drags on, I sometimes find it unbearable to think about this chunk of Abenezer's life we're missing out on, how we're missing the squeaky laughs from those fat cheeks. But here's my one consolation: all kids want to know that they were wanted, but if all this ends with Abenezer getting to come home to us, he'll get to grow up knowing that he was fought for.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Kombucha Day
Since we on the west coast are 11 hours behind Addis Ababa, we're going to start another 24-hours of fasting and prayer this evening at 5:00 pm, around the time Addis is waking up on Wednesday. We're so appreciative of all the people who have joined with us in this, in whatever form you can. Fasting is a big mystery to me, and if anything, denying myself food just reminds me to keep praying. Our friend Susan, who organized the last day of prayer and fasting, had the good idea of drinking kombucha on these days. I did it last week and will do it this week as well.
I'm not sure how much rest I'll get tonight, knowing that the meeting may be happening during the middle of our night. Even more chances to pray, I suppose. We're expecting to hear some sort of news sometime Wednesday. Thank you again to everyone checking in and praying.
I'm not sure how much rest I'll get tonight, knowing that the meeting may be happening during the middle of our night. Even more chances to pray, I suppose. We're expecting to hear some sort of news sometime Wednesday. Thank you again to everyone checking in and praying.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Through a Glass Darkly
Still cautiously optimistic, we found out today that the big meeting this week is going to happen on Wednesday. We got some other interesting news, with more clarification of what happened in court last Friday that makes the situation a tad less baffling but that also makes the case Gladney is working on even stronger.
We already had a lot of confidence in the Gladney team, but that's growing even stronger. We also feel like some of the conversations and "chance" meetings going on are a direct result of prayer, so we want again to thank all of you who are taking the time to remember us, Abenezer, Belay, and the rest of the Gladney team in your prayers. Thank you!
Since we're in unknown waters here, no one is sure of what steps are going to come after this Wednesday's meeting. We're preparing ourselves for the full range of outcomes, delays, postponements or resolutions. We've got the full gamut of emotions going on right now with all these possibilities.
During this wait-time, I'm reading The Shack, a book about a man grieving the tragic loss of his young daughter. He meets the Trinity in the form of a pie-baking African American woman, a Middle-Eastern wood-worker (ok, that one's pretty straightforward), and a small Asian gardener who flits around wearing shimmery colors. The story, though a bit out there, is hitting me as a comfort these days, managing to stretch my imagination of what God is like, thus building my faith and helping me figure out how to see beyond the cracked world we live in. There's so much going on in reality that we never experience with our human senses and logic, something I often forget if not reminded. We really do see through a glass darkly and some seasons are a lot darker than others.
I cried all the way through the article in Parade by Melissa Faye Greene. If you didn't get a chance to read it, you can find it here.
We already had a lot of confidence in the Gladney team, but that's growing even stronger. We also feel like some of the conversations and "chance" meetings going on are a direct result of prayer, so we want again to thank all of you who are taking the time to remember us, Abenezer, Belay, and the rest of the Gladney team in your prayers. Thank you!
Since we're in unknown waters here, no one is sure of what steps are going to come after this Wednesday's meeting. We're preparing ourselves for the full range of outcomes, delays, postponements or resolutions. We've got the full gamut of emotions going on right now with all these possibilities.
During this wait-time, I'm reading The Shack, a book about a man grieving the tragic loss of his young daughter. He meets the Trinity in the form of a pie-baking African American woman, a Middle-Eastern wood-worker (ok, that one's pretty straightforward), and a small Asian gardener who flits around wearing shimmery colors. The story, though a bit out there, is hitting me as a comfort these days, managing to stretch my imagination of what God is like, thus building my faith and helping me figure out how to see beyond the cracked world we live in. There's so much going on in reality that we never experience with our human senses and logic, something I often forget if not reminded. We really do see through a glass darkly and some seasons are a lot darker than others.
I cried all the way through the article in Parade by Melissa Faye Greene. If you didn't get a chance to read it, you can find it here.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Monday in Addis Ababa
The day is getting started right now in Addis Ababa. It's Monday morning already over there, 6:30 a.m. I'm trying to fight the growing knot in my stomach with prayer. We're praying for favor and understanding in a meeting that could be taking place any time now...
Clarification: we were told certain meetings should be happening at any point this week, not necessarily on Monday, though we still haven't heard anything yet. Thank you for all the continued prayers.
Clarification: we were told certain meetings should be happening at any point this week, not necessarily on Monday, though we still haven't heard anything yet. Thank you for all the continued prayers.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Our Confidence in Gladney
Ted and I spent the four months after officially deciding to adopt searching for the right agency for us. We even began the application process with one before finding out policy information that didn't gel with us, leading us to back out. We researched all there possibly was to research and developed the most detailed list of questions you can imagine. When I started going through my list of questions with a Gladney rep on the phone, she laughed at me a bit with her sweet Texas twang, saying she'd never heard such questions before. She reassured me that Gladney believes in trust between their staff and clients. We'd been burned by the previous agency we'd started to sign on with, so the word trust was just what we needed to hear to go full-steam ahead with Gladney.
We have not once regretted that decision. We have the upmost respect for their entire staff and the strongest confidence that they are doing all they can do (and possibly even more, with the help of God) to advocate for Abenezer. Though this is a worrisome, stressful situation we are in, something we haven't worried about even once is Gladney's reputation. There is no other agency that we would want on our side right now, not one.
The world of adoption includes many twists and turns, more than we'd imagined when we set off down this path, and no other road has required more faith or patience of us. I look back at 2007-Lori, the one who sometimes complained about how long it was taking for paperwork to get done or how impatient I felt with the process, and I want to gently shake her and say, "Honey, you have no idea what patience is about to be required of you...better buckle up and tighten those straps."
So Ted and I are doing our best to hang on to that mustard-seed. I hope to encourage others out there further behind us in the process (especially Gladney families) to hang on to faith. Dig deep in search of that little seed and have patience that God's timing is perfect, though you may not be able to see right now (I'm preaching to myself here). And please please please don't let our situation rattle your confidence in the Gladney staff. These people are stellar, I'm telling you. Tears well up regularly when I think of them and all they are doing for our family. They are overworked, under-appreciated, and go the distance with all of their families.
I know that our situation has probably scared a lot of Gladney families out there, but I implore you to understand that what is happening to us now is not the norm: the Gladney team could not have done anything to prevent this happening. We are convinced that they have the best resources available to do all they can to advocate for these children. We ask that you remember what good hands we are all in with Gladney, and that they daily go above-and-beyond, many days working long over-time hours to bring our children home to us.
We have not once regretted that decision. We have the upmost respect for their entire staff and the strongest confidence that they are doing all they can do (and possibly even more, with the help of God) to advocate for Abenezer. Though this is a worrisome, stressful situation we are in, something we haven't worried about even once is Gladney's reputation. There is no other agency that we would want on our side right now, not one.
The world of adoption includes many twists and turns, more than we'd imagined when we set off down this path, and no other road has required more faith or patience of us. I look back at 2007-Lori, the one who sometimes complained about how long it was taking for paperwork to get done or how impatient I felt with the process, and I want to gently shake her and say, "Honey, you have no idea what patience is about to be required of you...better buckle up and tighten those straps."
So Ted and I are doing our best to hang on to that mustard-seed. I hope to encourage others out there further behind us in the process (especially Gladney families) to hang on to faith. Dig deep in search of that little seed and have patience that God's timing is perfect, though you may not be able to see right now (I'm preaching to myself here). And please please please don't let our situation rattle your confidence in the Gladney staff. These people are stellar, I'm telling you. Tears well up regularly when I think of them and all they are doing for our family. They are overworked, under-appreciated, and go the distance with all of their families.
I know that our situation has probably scared a lot of Gladney families out there, but I implore you to understand that what is happening to us now is not the norm: the Gladney team could not have done anything to prevent this happening. We are convinced that they have the best resources available to do all they can to advocate for these children. We ask that you remember what good hands we are all in with Gladney, and that they daily go above-and-beyond, many days working long over-time hours to bring our children home to us.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
A Bit of News
After talking to our caseworker today, we are cautiously encouraged. Some things are going on, good conversations and a couple of important meetings hopefully within the next week. So, there is more waiting on the horizon and definitely more prayers.
It must be said that Belay is the hero in this whole situation. He is busting his butt over there to talk to the right people and organize meetings. We've heard such amazing things about the man, and we feel so thankful to have him advocating for Abenezer. Please remember him in your prayers: thank God for him and pray for his continued strength, safety and wisdom (and whatever else you feel led to pray).
Thank you to all of you who are making the sacrifice to remember us, Abenezer, Belay, and the rest of the unseen Gladney staff who are working so hard to advocate for these children. Thank you. We hope to hear more news in the next week.
It must be said that Belay is the hero in this whole situation. He is busting his butt over there to talk to the right people and organize meetings. We've heard such amazing things about the man, and we feel so thankful to have him advocating for Abenezer. Please remember him in your prayers: thank God for him and pray for his continued strength, safety and wisdom (and whatever else you feel led to pray).
Thank you to all of you who are making the sacrifice to remember us, Abenezer, Belay, and the rest of the unseen Gladney staff who are working so hard to advocate for these children. Thank you. We hope to hear more news in the next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)