The best news is...for this momma who the Lord has been graciously teaching patience for the past year...is that we get to leave A WEEK FROM TODAY! I was only able to get our flights scheduled for Tuesday(not Wednesday as our agency recommended). Considering I am probably going to hold my breath until we leave...the earlier we leave the better!
Just so you know...the devil has been trying to get all up in my joy the past couple of days..I have been having computer problems...patience problems....sleep problems.....scheduling problems and car problems....but this sister ain't got any problems tonight! I really never had any to begin with-I just took my eye off the prize thinking I could handle all this myself. I am basking in the love that my Redeemer has for me and my family tonight. I am rejoicing in His faithfulness. We are shutting down that enemy scheme by praising our awesome God, giving Him all the glory, and remembering all the times He has carried us through this.
"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."
1 Thessalonians 5:24
No worries that we spent $1500.00 more on travel than we thought we would. No worries that our den and carport are FULL(I mean F.U.L.L.) of donations from over 20 families to sell at a fundraiser yard sale April 12 that we wont be here to have. Just pure and simple joy in the fact that He continues to carry us on this journey that we could never have even started if it weren't for Him.
We will arrive in Addis Ababa next Wednesday after connections in Houston and Frankfurt, Germany. We were able to get 2 ten hour flights instead of one 20 hour one. This is a praise for this 6 foot momma who may not get an aisle seat. When we get to Addis a day ahead of the other 4 families from our agency...we hope to visit some American missionaries in the city that we have connected with on Facebook. On Friday we will travel on another flight with the other families to meet our children at their orphanage in the northern part of the country. On Monday we will return to Addis WITH OUR KIDS for a court date of April 15. A major praise in this is that our kids will be coming to the transition house in Addis(where they will stay for the next month until we come back to get them)with a friend who has lived with them in the orphanage for the past year. This friend will be moving to Texas...so our kids will be able to keep in touch and maintain a friendship with visits. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this connection they will be able to maintain. It is such a blessing for young lives who will be losing so many other connections.
After our court date we will travel back to the states(on two more 10 hour flights. YES). Over the next 3-5 weeks the kids get new birth certificates, passports, and visas which will allow them to come to the US as US citizens the second they step on US soil. When we get the call...we go and pick them up and bring them home! Hannah's graduation is May 17 so there may be some tweeking of dates for our second trip...but we have a little flexibility with scheduling that one...so NO WORRIES devil..no worries.
We are heading to Ethiopia folks. The plane tickets are purchased. The guest house is booked. The kids know we are coming. They know we are coming.
"Praise the Lord, everything He has created, everything in all His kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord."
Psalm 103:22
Oh my goodness! I just saw this post on FB and I have to read all the posts. As I am reading this I get cold chills because I am 99% positive that you are the Sage that we have been praying for this adoption in our Sunday school class. To think all this time we have been praying for Ms. Bobbie's family and I went to school with you and didn't even realize it!
ReplyDeleteShay Campbell Gauldin