answered prayers

Last night about 9:30 we received an email from our agent Shimeliss stating that he is retiring and that the owner of small world adoption would be taking his place and finishing our adoptions. The new agent is Jim, he also sent an email saying that he has done thousands of adoptions and is planning to go to Ethiopia ASAP to get everything worked out. I emailed him to ask about the kids and if we needed to send money, he told me not to send any that they were taking care of the problems. I feel so much better, I feel like he is straight forward and is not trying to con us out of more money. I am really happy that they are already planning to go the Ethiopia and make our open cases the top priority.
It feels like a huge burden has been lifted off our shoulders and that our son is being taken care of. I think that we should be able to go back to Ethiopia very soon, they should be able to pick up the birth certificate and turn in our embassy paperwork and we should be able to go back soon. I am so excited!
I know it seems like this has taken a very long time but most adoptions take 18-24 months from the time the dossier is turned into the country, we just turn in our dossier in April I think so it has only been about 13 months. It has just been a crazy ride for us. We are so thankful for the opportunity to adopt and to give a child a home, we are also so thankful for what a blessing Liam has been to us already. We cannot wait to get him home so we know that he is being cared for and getting everything he needs (and more).
God is so Good!!!! I will keep you updated :)

update

I know my last post was kind of stressed, I am feeling a lot better today. We have found out more bad news but I am confident that God is in control and that He will take care of our baby  boy while we cannot. The adoption agency that we have been working with in the US doesn't seem to be telling us the whole story. Apparently he has not been sending the amount of money he and the Ethiopian agency had agreed on, actually he has not been sending them any money since July. We and the other families has paid most of our fees post July so there is no reason why he would not have been able to send the money. The result in this is that there has been no money for the transition home to pay their rent, to pay the workers, or to buy food for the children.    Today they were supposed to be evicted from the home. We are not sure yet what is happening, the time difference is making it difficult to communicate. 

We were told by the Ethiopian agency that even if Shimeliss from St. Louis went to Ethiopia it would not do any good since the children are in the custody of the transition home not Shimeliss. At least this clears up whether we should give him more money or not. The other families and ourselves plan to make sure the children are taken care of and that we get out children home. 

We are very upset because we did so much research on agencies before we chose one and we really felt that Hope was the way to go.  We would have not been referred the same child if we had gone with another agency so we still feel that God lead us to Hope. Liam is such a perfect baby, his little personality is so close to ours it is like he grew up in our house :) It is just amazing how close we feel to him already, I cannot imagine what it will be like to get him home. 

We have so much going on right now, I feel like I am running as fast as I can but I am always 1 step behind. But one day everything will slow down and I will be in great shape :) Please pray for the children of Hope Ethiopia and Faith Children's Home Association. Also pray that we will be able to make the right decisions in the next few weeks.

Patience

Honestly, I am very discouraged right now. It seems like whenever we get past one obstacle there are two more there waiting for us. Our case passed in the Ethiopian court so now the next step is to get the birth certificate which just has to be picked up. Easy right? No of course not, here is a far fetched story....the land lord of Hope Ethiopia didn't record that the agency is leasing from him or didn't record the income, something to this extent. Because he did not do this there is no proof that the agency exists to the people holding Liam's birth certificate....now they have to get the land lord to go there and say they are leasing from him. Easy enough....apparently not, he doesn't seem to be going up there. Now the only thing we can do is sit here and wait. Our agent from the US is very aggravated with Hope Ethiopia and has decided that after he finished the last 4 families adoptions that he is working on he will be closing his agency. He thinks it will help if he goes to Ethiopia to get these problems worked out and get our case filed at the Embassy (4-6 more weeks). But of course he has no more resources so in order to get there we the families are going to have to pay his way. 


I am so frustrated, I just don't know what to do....we will of course do anything to get Liam home. He is our son! We were so sure he would be home in Feb that the longer we have to wait the harder it gets. I didn't look for a job after we moved to TX because we were so sure we were going to Ethiopia right away, even now I don't know what to do because I don't want to take a job and then turn around 3 weeks later and take a month  of leave. There is just so much weighing on our shoulders right now that they are literally sore. 


On a plus side we should find out this week or next if we have sold the condo in TN and we are pretty sure we have leased to own the house in KY and the people will be moving in on June 1st Praise God!!! James say to rejoice in your trials because they prude perseverance (patience), we know that God is with us and that there is always a purpose for trials, they make us stronger, we learn from each of them. There are so many verses that I keep quoting myself but one of my favorites is "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40:31.

Sorry for venting I know that everything will be okay and that we will be in Ethiopia picking up Liam before we know it. Thanks for reading and please continue to keep us in your prayers.


2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

what a week

We are still waiting....no news about the US Embassy at all. I am not sure if our case has been filed yet, last we heard Hope was still waiting for the new birth certificate. It has only been about 3 weeks so there is really no need to get impatient yet.....though I think this wait has to be the hardest of all so far. 


It has been a very eventful last couple of weeks. I had to make an emergency trip back to KY because my great aunt who I call Ninnie was very sick and not expected to make it. After being named the queen of gall stones by her doctor, for having more stones than he had ever seen, she made a full recovery and is now back to living by herself at home (with the close supervision of Melanie and Mama). God is so Good!


We also were very upset to  hear of the death of Lt. David Rylander who was killed in action last week in Afghanistan. He and Josh were friends that met last summer during BOLC. David was a great guy and a great Christian. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Please continue to pray for those who lay down their life everyday for us. 


Lately I feel like there is so much more sickness, death, and hurting all around me. I am so glad that I have a Savior who hears and answers my prayers. I have the assurance of knowing no matter what tomorrow brings to my doorstep Jesus will be there with me through it all. It gives me an overwhelming peace and the ability to persevere through whatever opposes me. 


Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27