Yipeeeee!!!!!

I asked my Amharic speaking friend in Chicago how to translate "yipeeeee" into Amharic, but she hasn't responded! I think she was too excited about this wonderful thing that has happened in our family!

So, baring any further delays, in less than 2 weeks, Yosef and Mihret will be MINE!!!! We have been waiting for this courtdate for over a year now. And what a difficult, wild year it's been! I've probably cried enough tears this year to fill a small lake. And yet, not one of those tears has fallen without God's notice. I think that as my heart has been filled with anguish over my children, His heart has been filled with anguish for me, His daughter. Yet, in the darkest moments, when I honestly thought I couldn't keep fighting, God always gave me just a little bit more fight in my spirit so that I could continue on. He has given me so many "cheerleaders" who have listened to me, cried with me, and loved me throughout this process. He is so good. And so faithful.

Yet my heart is also broken today, as there are a few kids who have been "stuck" for a very long time, just like my Yosef and Mihret, but their names were not listed as having received courtdates. Please, as you read, just take 30 seconds to pray for Kelem, Bethlehem, and Adonai.

Well, I thought our paperwork expired in January. Guess what?! I got it out last night to double check it and discovered that it expires at the end of November! I'm glad I didn't know about that, as it would have just been one more thing to keep me stressed! However, that puts us in a real time crunch. We can either pay $700 that we don't have, drive 4 hours one way to get our fingerprints done for the FBI, then wait several months for the results. OR, we can make sure we get those kids home before our paperwork expires! We're opting for choice #2 (DUH!!!!). So, that means that EVERYTHING else in this process needs to go smoothly for a change with no further delays!

Yet, as my dear friend Rosa reminded me in an email this morning, God has been so faithful thus far, and I have no reason to believe He would leave us stranded right here at the very end. Indeed, God is faithful to a thousand generations.

AND, this "nesting" instinct has finally kicked in good and hard, and I have miraculously been motivated to paint my upstairs bathroom! I've had the paint for months, but couldn't bring myself to apply it! But, low and behold, it's going on today! :)