We're Gonna Be World Travelers

Big, huge, super exciting news today!  We are to appear at Ethiopian High Court on November 26, 2010!!!  We are beyond thrilled.  We didn't expect to hear anything until the end of September.  Now, we can book our tickets three months in advance and relax knowing that we've done everything we can do.  It's an amazing feeling to finally know the date that we will meet our Little E.  A mom who recently brought her child home met him while she was at the care center.  She said he seemed sweet with a bit of a mischievous smile.  I can't wait to see for myself!!


The court date is great for us for a couple of different reasons.  Most important to us, our first miscarriage was the day before Thanksgiving 2001.  Since then, it's been a bittersweet holiday for us.  There's always serving of sadness to go along with the ham and pumpkin pie.  This won't erase the loss of that child, but it does, as a fellow adoption mom put it, bring beauty from the ashes.  I loved that she said that, since that's how I've described our adoption journey - rising from the ashes of our most recent miscarriage on Christmas Day 2009.  Again, I reference our adoption theme song --- What Faith Can Do by Kutlass.  Makes me cry every time with its relevance.  Our dreams are moving mountains, I've seen miracles just happen, and our broken hearts ARE becoming brand new.  That's what faith can do.


Secondly, Justin's in his third year of law school.  He kinda has to be there.  He kinda has to be in Ethiopia, too.  [I keep insisting that he should get some sort of credit for appearing in court halfway around the world.]  For our court date to fall on a week when he's already off of school and work for the most part is an amazing answer to prayer.  He's talked to most of his professors already and they're cool with it.  Still, the sheer volume of material he would miss by being gone for a whole week of class would be overwhelming for him.  Now, we don't have to worry about that.  Awesome!


Finally, childcare should be much easier to line up that week [right, Clovis peeps??].  My mom will be off of school for at least the end of the week and hopefully other people will step up to volunteer for a day or half day.  We'll get back to the states over the weekend and be ready on Monday to get back to life, even if we're beyond exhausted.


Our next thing is to figure out how to pay for all of this traveling.  It seems that it will be a little cheaper than we were anticipating.  Our flower bulb fundraiser is still going for a few more days.  If you're interested, let me know and I'll get the info to you!


Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. - Isaiah 43:5