An update on some very exciting news…WE ARE GOING TO MEET ELSA!! Can you believe it!?! Ahhhh! And soon. Real soon. We got the call yesterday and God has answered our prayers more perfectly than we’d ever imagined. We are getting ready to head to Ethiopia for court and to meet our little girl!!
So, what does this mean? It’s kind of confusing. The Ethiopia adoption process requires two trips from families. This is our first trip. We will meet Elsa and go in front of the judge. As long as everything paperwise is in order, and her birth family interview went accordingly, we will pass court and officially be a family of three!! We have amazing prayer warriors, so please continue to pray that everything goes smoothly and we pass court the day we go in front of the judge.
This court trip does not mean Elsa is coming home yet. I know, boo right? Once we pass court our case will move to the embassy side of things and after their investigations they will clear Elsa to come home and we can take our second trip and go get her! That will be awesome. But could take anywhere from several weeks to several months. We just don’t know.
But we are beyond thrilled, and completely amazed, that we are getting to go meet Elsa before the courts close. We will update with pics and more info as we have it, but we have some specific prayer requests during this part of the process…
Of course we want to pray for Elsa. None of us know what to expect. But we are praying she begins to trust us on this first trip. And that God prepares her heart for all the upcoming change.
We’re praying for safe and smooth travels. And some peace and energy during the hectic days (yes days) in airports and airplanes…and for health and mental strength while we’re there.
We know it’s going to be a physically and emotionally draining trip. We’re sure there will be lots of highs and lows. And we are particularly praying for comfort when the time comes to leave Elsa.
And we continue to pray for provision for airfare and in-country stay, and are still amazed that through God’s faitfulness we can go to court knowing that our court fees have been provided.
Thank you to everyone who has written/called us to celebrate this huge news and offer help and support. We will be taking donations on our second trip, so if you weren’t able to get them to us this time we can get them when we’re back.
Yay!! God is so good!! Cannot wait to hear about how this first trip goes!!! Y’all will be in our prayers
Comment by Rebekah Bernhard — August 10, 2012 @ 1:35 am
Do you realize you can now put dates next to THREE of your “still ahead” items? That means only 3 more to go!!!!!! So excited for you guys! Praying!!!!!
Comment by Stacey Gaines — August 10, 2012 @ 2:06 am
Congratulations!!! We’re in the same boat and hoping to beat court closures. When was your date and did you hear when they close? If you could email me any info I would so deeply appreciate it!!! erb1986@juno.com Have an awesome trip and again, congrats:)
Comment by Rebecca — August 10, 2012 @ 12:58 pm
That is so exciting!! We just mailed in our dossier and already we are anxious for the day we can go to Ethiopia and meet our daughter-to-be!! Know that i’ll be praying for you, even though i don’t know you, other than through your blog!! God is so faithful, awesome!!
Gloria
Comment by Gloria — August 10, 2012 @ 1:04 pm