Leaving on a jet plane....

We passed court!!!!!  It’s official- we head to Ethiopia in ten days and meet Addie in eleven.  To say we are excited is the understatement of the century.  Thanks so much for your prayers today.  We didn’t get the news until about 3:00 this afternoon, but I was really pretty calm and peaceful today while waiting- which could only be explained by the work of the Spirit. 

So, now the craziness begins.  Packing our suitcases (which is a lot of packing, because we are taking as little as possible for ourselves so that we can take donations for the orphanages), packing for Payton (who will be staying with Mimi and Grandaddy), getting the house ready (for Alex, who will be staying here with the pooch), and about a million other little things.  I’m feeling a tad overwhelmed, but I know that the Lord is sovereign over the tiny details too.  He hasn’t orchestrated everything up to this point to leave us to our own devices now.

The other good news we received today was that our friends in Louisiana passed court, too, and will be in Ethiopia with us.  We are sooooo very happy to know we will share this experience with them.  Such a blessing.

Thanks again for the prayers.  Keep them coming.  Here are a few things you can pray about:

1.     Pray that all the details fall into place and that getting ready for the trip is relatively stress-free.

2.     Pray for safe, smooth travels.

3.     Pray for our health while we travel.

4.     Pray for Payton, who we have never left for longer than one night.  Pray for her Mimi and Grandaddy, who will be watching her.

5.     Pray for Addie to continue to receive the love and care she needs before we get there and after we leave.- which leads to the next request, and perhaps the hardest to put into words-

6.     Pray that we will be able to leave Addie in Ethiopia with peace and the utmost assurance that our Lord is caring for her and working out the timing of our return.  We have no clue when that return will be, but it is typically three-four months after the first trip.  I’m pretty sure that will be the hardest few months of my life thus far.  My stomach honestly starts flipping when I think about having to get on the plane without her.  Please pray that the process goes quickly and smoothly, and that time will seemingly pass quickly for us and for Addie while we are apart.

Your encouragement and prayers mean more than we can tell you.  I think that soon after we get home I will be allowed to post pictures of our girl.  I can’t wait for you to see her!

Blessings!

Twelve Days!!!!

I woke up today feeling really awful, and I literally had no voice at all to sing harmonies with our worship leader in the first service or to lead Kidstreet worship myself.  I hate-hate not being able to sing- particularly when people are counting on me (Sorry, Rochell and Andrew).  It’s unusual for me to lose my voice, and incredibly frustrating.  Now I’m feeling well enough to go to the second service, but still don’t have a voice to sing with the worship team or choir.  So, here I sit in my den until it’s time to go, having my own worship of sorts, as I listen to Shane & Shane’s latest album for the second time this morning.  I’ve forgotten multiple times that I have no voice and try to bust out with them, but to no avail.  My voice is gone- empty- but my heart is full and singing loudly. 

We got great news this week.  The Ethiopian courts reopened on October 1^st, as scheduled!  Yippee!  I was really prepared for them to stay closed another week or so and to have to wait even longer to go.  Our preliminary court date that we do not attend is scheduled for tomorrow, October 8^th.  As long as that happens, we should be good to go for our scheduled October 22^nd court date.  This would have us leaving about the 18^th, arriving in Ethiopia on the 19^th. - Twelve days before I meet my sweet girl!!!! Twelve days!!! If I had a voice, I would be shouting it in my empty house.

I think I love her more with each passing day.  My heart deeply longs for her and I actually miss her.  How is this possible?  How can I love someone I’ve never actually met?  How can my heart ache to hold a child who I have only seen five pictures of ever?  I know the Lord has inexplicably knit our hearts together, and it’s His love in me that overflows for my girl.  The more I realize my love for Addie, the more I realize and am overwhelmed by the Father’s love for us.

We had the blessing of going on a family vacation to Disney World in the middle of September, and we had a fantastic trip.  We were bummed that Grandaddy, my dad, had to spend ninety percent of the trip working, but we had fun nonetheless.  The day before we left for our trip we got a huge surprise- new pictures of Addie!  We were not expecting to receive any more pictures and were thrilled as her little face appeared on our phone screens.  At the time of her initial doctor exam at three and a half months, she weighed only eight pounds, but the new pictures actually showed plump little cheeks.  Payton prays with us nightly that Addie’s belly will be full, and how amazing it was to show her tangible proof of a God who hears prayers.  Addie turned six months old this week on the 3^rd, and while it was painful to not be there with her to kiss her cheeks, it is really quite remarkable to know that the Lord of All is there with her, watching over her, providing for her.  It’s a real exercise in trust to not be able to physically care for your child and rest in the fact that He is capable.  Addie (and also Payton) is always His before she is ours.  I pray I never forget that.

 Please join us in praying that all goes well tomorrow (it will be 9 am there when it’s 2 am here), and that we get to spend tomorrow afternoon making travel plans and buying plane tickets!  And yet, as we have prayed all along- His will be done, not ours.