Psalm 3:1-8

When your phone rings at 8:30 on a Friday night and it's your adoption agency, you know either something really good has happened...or something really bad. Fortunately, it wasn't the worst possible news, but certainly very discouraging news.

For about a week now there have been rumors flying around about corruption within the Ethiopian adoption system, specifically with abandonment cases. Without getting into the details, basically children were being "orphaned" in ways that weren't exactly ethical. Part of the rumors were also that abandonment cases were not being seen in court...That's where we fall in all of this...

Charlie & Sam are from a part of Ethiopia called Shashemene and to our knowledge, have been abandoned and have no living relatives. The police department in Shashemene, as well as the orphanage they currently call home in Addis Ababa have both been investigated and passed with flying colors! Praise the Lord! To my understanding, all orphanages, adoption agencies and many of the police departments are being investigated. And until all this is done and the powers that be in Ethiopia are happy with their findings, ALL ABANDONMENT CASES ARE BEING SUSPENDED. (See HERE for the official explanation.)

We are so close, yet so far away. They have all our corrected paperwork, just waiting to be reviewed. There is some hope that since we are just so close, they might still review the paperwork, but it sounds like at this point we have come to a screeching halt...

I really don't know what to say. I'm just numb. In some ways I feel like this can't possibly be real, and on the other hand, it's so real it physically hurts. More than anything, I want to be able to tell the boys we are coming as fast as we can. This is very real for them, too, and they know they have a family waiting for them. But how can their little minds wrap around the concept of time and waiting?

I said a mere 15 hours ago that I'm glad God always gets His way. This doesn't change that, just gives me more ammo to pray with. On the other hand, does it totally suck?? I answer with a resounding "YES!" (I'm only human.)

We covet your prayers. Please continue to pray for a miracle. A Charlie & Sam shaped miracle...