A Praise!

Oh my word, since there have been so many detours on this journey, once something positive happens, there is MAJOR REJOICING in our home!!!

We received an email this morning that our I-604 investigation has been completed.  This is the process that is required and implemented by the US government.  Our paperwork has been forwarded from the US Embassy in Addis back to the USCIS office in the United States (where the process began).  At this point, we will now be waiting for our PAIR letter to arrive in the mail.  This feels like a huge hurdle we finally overcame so we are thrilled to feel like we are moving forward again.  (To my neighbors - yes - you will be seeing me stalk the mailman until this document is in my hands.)

Additionally, as I've mentioned several times, on the Ethiopian side of the process, we have been waiting for a Regional Head/Director to sign a document.  It has been difficult to figure out whey she wasn't signing, what she was looking for, when she would sign, IF she would sign... you get the picture.  However, just last week we received an outline of three things she has requested in order to sign our paperwork.  We are ecstatic that there is a plan in place and the potential to move forward in this regard.

As will all things adoption related, it's difficult, if not impossible, to guess a time frame for this to happen.  The courts are closed now in Ethiopia, but these three requirements and her signing can all still happen during the closure.  Our hope and prayer is that these things will be accomplished within a couple of weeks, but realistically, we know it could take longer.  As soon as she signs, a court date will be scheduled for sometime after the courts re-open around October 15. (That first one we do not attend).  After the first court date occurs, then OUR court date where we DO attend is scheduled and we will book our flights to Ethiopia.

BE STILL MY HEART.

Please continue to pray for those little hearts over there.  Also, now that we have a specific understanding of what needs to happen, please pray that it happens SOON!!!

August Update

This is the time of August that we were dreaming we would be taking our first trip to Ethiopia to meet our kids.  The courts are closing any day now, which means that there is no way for us to travel until it re-opens sometime in October.  Even if they stayed open, though, we wouldn't be able to travel because of a stall on both the US Embassy side and Ethiopia side.

On the US side, we are required to go through something called the PAIR process.  I'm sure I've mentioned it several times before.  It's basically the US government evaluating all the paperwork, conducting an interview of either a birth parent or the person who found an orphaned child, and granting a PAIR letter to move forward with the adoption.  Since this process is new as of September, many people have experienced bumps along the way with average time frame of 4-5 months to be completed.  We have experienced 10 foot deep potholes and mountains trying to get through this.  It seems like if something could go wrong, it does.

For example, when our paperwork was supposedly ready to be sent from the US office to the Embassy in Ethiopia (they scan it in the computer, so it's fairly quick), I was told it was being sent on a Thursday.  Come to find out, the employee who told me that left the office permanently on the following day and left our paperwork in a pile, waiting for the  next person.  It sat there for almost two weeks before we figured out where it was.  Then, once we found it and had a new officer assigned, she informed us that we were missing a document.  The previous employee had made a mistake.  So, for a simple task of our paperwork being sent to the Embassy, (15 minute job) it took almost three weeks.

We are almost to six months now, with no PAIR letter, and waiting for an interview to be scheduled.

Things like this have continued to happen over and over again and it's almost driving me crazy.

On the Ethiopian side, apparently our agency is having to re-do most of our paper work in order to have it meet a certain requirement for the Regional Head.  She still refuses to sign for our kids, even though we really do have everything thoroughly documented and turned in.  This KILLS me. Our kids have been in an orphanage for over a year of their life now and will continue to be probably for a total of at least 18 months, because of one signature.

One signature.  It's ridiculous.

At this point, we have no idea of when PAIR will be completed.  We have no idea of when the documents will be updated and ready and we have no idea of when/if this regional head will ever actually sign the paperwork for our kids.  There is an overwhelming uncertainty as we think about, pray for, and love two little faces across the world.

As I've said probably in every other post, the only thing that encourages us and keeps us hopeful is our trust in God.  We know he has a plan for our family.  It makes ZERO sense to us, but we know he is faithful and we believe he comforts the hearts of our kids in Ethiopia.  

We would appreciate prayers and we continue this process.  We've given up praying on specifics because specifically, almost every aspect needs prayer.  At this point, we are just praying for a miracle.