Leaving Tomorrow!

Over the past few weeks, it has been fun to notice certain dates. I was driving by the local bank where the sign announced: August 3, National Night Out! The other day, I noticed the expiration date on our milk: It has been almost surreal to realize that we will be in court on August 3! This is finally happening, and we are so excited!

So, we leave tomorrow. We are excited, scared, thrilled, pumped, etc! It is tough to leave our kiddos for 10 days, but it will be worth it when we are able to see little Isaiah's face on Sunday. So, here is our schedule:

Friday: Arrive in Addis
Saturday: Do some exploring
Sunday: See Isaiah for the first time. We will spend one hour with him in his orphanage. We are thrilled that we will get to see his home for the past four months.
Monday: See Isaiah for the second time. (Another hour visit.)
Tuesday: Court! We will testify before a judge that we indeed want Isaiah. Wow. This is just going to be powerful.
Wednesday-Friday: Experience as much of Ethiopia as we can
Friday night: Start the trip home
Saturday night: Get home!

Please pray for safety for us and our kids. We pray that we will be able to take in as much about Ethiopia as possible in order to share it with Isaiah some day. We cannot wait to share it with you! We will try to blog/facebook while we are there; however, we are not sure if we will always have internet access. So, we'll see!

Thank you, Jesus, for bringing us to this place.

More Stretching--Yikes!

Yesterday, we received news that we will have to add an additional trip to Ethiopia to our plans. The Ethiopian government has been considering this, and they put it into effect yesterday. Basically, all prospective parents will have to travel to Ethiopia for the court date. Then, because Embassy dates are assigned two months later, parents will have to return then to pick up their children.

In our fragile state, we were initially a little bit panicked. Plane tickets to Ethiopia are expensive, so this surprise cost was a little bit overwhelming. Then, God reminded us that this is not a surprise to Him. He has provided above and beyond so far, and we know that He will continue to provide for us. There is really no reason to worry. So, we are trying to see the positives of this additional trip:
1. We get to go to Africa two times in about two months!
2. We will have some time to do some "sight-seeing" and take in the Ethiopian culture without having to juggle a little boy.
3. We will get to trust God even more than expected.

Please continue to pray for our hearts. As time passes by without a referral and new developments threaten to shake us, we want to remain faithful as we wait for God's timing in all of this.