We leave in 11 days

Wow - 19 days have passed since we received our court date. It has been a crazy time around here. Within 48 hours of finding out the news we had booked 3 round trip tickets to Addis Ababa and 4 nights stay at the Yebsabi Guest house. I bought a new camera to take pictures and video - a Canon. It is awesome I love it and can't wait to use it to take pictures of our little girl and the other children with waiting families.

I have to admit it has been a hard stage. It is crazy how each milestone we reach in this process continues to be a relief and an opening of what I will call "discomfort". It is really uncomfortable falling in love with a child half way across the world. Don't get me wrong - it is easy to fall in love with her; she is beautiful, sweet and everything I dreamed about. But she is in Ethiopia and I am here, and that is really uncomfortable. I just want to be with her, I want to meet her for the first time. I want to know how big is she really? How soft are her cheeks (I think about this one a lot - I guess because I just love cheeks - Sammy can attest to that!)?

I have been worrying about her birth father a lot. We have been praying for him, we have a whole team of amazing friends praying for him and her birth sisters. Praying that he will be comforted in this time that must be very difficult for him. And we have been praying that we will get to meet him at court. We found out a week ago that birth families will have the same court date/time as adoptive families. Wow I was not expecting this!

Originally we were told that with the new court travel requirement the birth families would have a court date 2-4 weeks before the adoptive families so that you would be sure to pass court when you traveled. Apparently that changed. So now we will be sitting in a room waiting our turn to go into court - watching all of the birth parents go in, and then come out having relinquished their children. It's an act I can't imagine having the heart to do - yet I admire their self sacrifice to insure their children will live. I think about that day with anxious anticipation. Anxious because I know it will not be comfortable to witness the relinquishment, yet anticipating the time when we get to say yes - we will bring our Angel into our family, our home and our hearts forever.

International Adoption is such an amazing act. Two families from two sides of the globe. One saying I need to provide a way for my child to live, I need someone to find a family for her. One family saying we will provide a way for a child to live, whatever child you gift us with. Two families separated by 8,000 miles and brought together for the love of a child. What an amazing thing......only God could dream this big.

I am so glad He is with us.