A world away... and the only thing to do is pray!

There has been some major things going on in Ethiopia the past few months.... these issues are thankfully not involving our agency. But you know the drill, when one person or organization does something unethical, then everyone else is grouped into that category.

Over the past several months there has been a large investigation conducted by the US Embassy into the agencies who are conducting adoptions in Ethiopia. Thankfully, our agency was the first to be cleared and has been able to continue with referrals and court dates. There has been some major slow downs though after that.

Let me explain, the first trip to Ethiopia will be for our Court Date. At this court date we will officially adopt our daughter. But then we will have to leave her there. Prior to this major investigation families were able to travel back to Ethiopia for their Embassy appointment about 6 weeks later. This is where things have changed.

Now, instead of know about when we will travel back to Ethiopia to have our Embassy appointment and come home with our daughter, we will not know until the week before! This means on a Wednesday we will get an appointment for either the following Tuesday or Thursday! I can not imagine how crazy that will be for us... Plane Tickets, Child Care for the kids, Time off work! PACKING!! This short notice alone will mean we will again pay double for our plane tickets to ET.

All of this can and has made me so upset. The uncertainty of when we will travel and if we will be one of the families where a "field investigation" is assigned has made me a little crazy! =) All of that said though, I have been on a journey and I know that God is bringing me to a place of rest and peace.

So here is what I have been thinking about....

I really feel like the Lord is asking us to step up our prayers. I have been sensing a lot of warfare among Ethiopian adoptions the past few weeks... We started on the journey because we felt a tug on our hearts to provide love and a family to the children of Ethiopia. We bathed our decisions in prayer and were led by the Lord.

It just feels like the enemy has meddled his way into the Ethiopian program at large to bring divsion, confusion, and hopelessness to a system that needs unity, clarity, and hope. I feel like I need to focus my prayers towards the latter and keep my focus on what God originally called us to do... provide for those in need. 

Pray that things are resolved in each level of the process from the orphanages all the way up to the embassy. 

So after much thought, I want to ask you all for something... ! 

Please pray and fast with Ricky and I on February 9th...

We would love to know who is praying with us for our sweet baby girl, so if you are so inclined, please comment below.