It's all "up in the air"!

"When He summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the Word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions," Psalm 105:16-21

As I sit here today, I continue to preach to myself that God's plans are not our plans...and that I should never desire to have it any other way... Even when it hurts emotionally, like Joseph's fetters and collar of iron must have hurt physically.

We received word today, as well as last Friday, that there will, most likely, be more delays with our adoption. Concerning our court date this Friday, the 15th, my case worker wrote,

"You’re still on for a week from tomorrow … as far as I know. We had some delays the last couple of weeks due to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs not having recommendations written in time, but we won’t know about that until the last minute if it occurs. Everyone is experiencing the same delays (agencies) as we all make that last push to get cases through court before the recess."

The reason there is such a "push" is that Ethiopian courts close for the months of August and September. There are no Embassy dates given during that time. That brings me to the second bit of news that we received:

"We ran into our first snag today with embassy dates having to be pushed out because birth certificates won’t be ready in time. They say it is a shortage of manpower at the Central Authority that issues them. We’ll keep everyone posted as we learn out this is going to play out. Up until now, we have been able to stay with 5-6 weeks after court for an embassy date. But true to form, with international adoptions “change is constant!” We are expecting that this new process might push travel dates out as much as 8-10 weeks after court. However, we have no way of being sure until we get enough longevity to see if there are any norms. Meanwhile, it is just safer to say we will schedule the embassy date when we have birth certificates in hand. From there, we can predict pretty well."

So, in a nut shell, everything is back up "in the air" again...but, truthfully, that is exactly where it REALLY has always been and exactly where we want it to stay...in the heavens:

"Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases." Psalm 115:3

I share this with you all not because we are fearful or full of worry...but because we desire that you see clearly the "labor pains" of adoption and, therefore, rejoice all the more in the "birth" of the boys lives into our family. We would ask for your continued prayers...both with us and for us. With us...as we pray that the Lord might allow our court date to be successful this Friday and that we might be able to head to Ethiopia before the courts close in August. And for us...that, not matter what, we would "rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances." (I Thess. 5:16-18) And, please, share your hearts with us too! We would love to be praying for YOU in whatever road the Lord has led you down!!!