5 Million Minus 1

Reflecting on the Wait & What's Next?

I must say that I was not always "great in the wait." (The wait to pass court that is). I would get weepy and teary and frustrated and then angry. People would tell me that God erases the pain once you have the child in your arms.....merely passing court was a feeling I can not describe. It did not whitewash the pain and aching from the wait, yet it definitely transformed those feelings into something different. Now, Tedi is mine. He is really mine. I am a mother, though one with empty arms, I am still a mother. I think the instinct to be a mother and desire from within created the majority of pain.

One quick point, if you look at our time line.....we passed court six months to the day that we submitted our application. That is CRAZY fast! God is good.

Now, I have so much joy..... I still have concerns like "will I get to travel with JT to pick up Tedi?" Because my residency starts July 1, I will most likely not be able to travel in July. It is amazing, though, the peace I am having about this. Of course, I am praying for an earlier travel date but we just do not know.

SO WHAT IS NEXT:
Now we wait some more, but this time it is more predictable (kind of). The next step to get an embassy date at the US Embassy in Ethiopia. They tell to plan on 8 weeks (puts us in July). I have seen some families go sooner and I am praying that is us....but everything has a time period out of my hands (the lesson God is TRYING to teach me). So now we wait on an embassy date and at that time we can book our (or JT's) plane ticket, hotel and such.

I do not know who, if anyone out there, reads this but WE ARE SOOOOOO EXCITED. I am dying to get into our new place and fix up his room (haha need a twin mattress set first!). I want to get him toys and more clothes now that we know he is closest to a 3T and for me, I WANT TO GET HIM SO MANY BOOKS. I love reading and was an English major in my first college life, and believe reading is such integral part to language development and overall education......I even made an amazon wishlist "for fun." I am THAT nerd. yet all of these cost money so it will be gradual for us.

Now we are praying for two other grants to come in to help us pay for travel. While we have some money saved for travel, it will not cover two round trip plane tickets, one oneway ticket, 7 nights in a hotel, food, and other in country cost...God has provided before and HE will continue to do so.

Thank you for your support along the path. We are so blessed.