Unexpected

     On Monday the embassy let us know that they wanted to interview the birth mother's father.  Our agency informed us the orphanage would be looking for him.  Yesterday we got a completely unexpected email.  During their search for the grand father they found our son's birth mother!  I had to read it several times until I knew I wasn't dreaming.  Part of me was happy they found her and then the fear and anxiety took hold.  All I could think about was when she disappeared when she was supposed to be at court.  I knew that if she didn't show up for this interview they would just keep rescheduling it causing delay after delay.  I am going to be completely honest.  I had a complete melt down.  I'm talking that ugly kind of crying.  I called my mom and she helped.  My friends helped encourage me.  I dug into scripture.  I realized God called us on this journey.  As hard as it is, I must give this completely to him.  Micah is our son and I have to trust that the Lord is watching over him.  

     We were not sure if we would find out today when the birth mother's appointment would be scheduled for.  I spent a large portion yesterday of looking up how long families had to wait for these appointments.  Every single one was 2-3 weeks out.  I had prepared myself for this.  This morning I heard John's phone ding at 2:00 am with a new email.  I knew this was more than likely the embassy with the scheduled appointment.  I didn't want to look at it because I just wasn't ready to see that we had to wait another 3 weeks until the appointment.  At 5:00 am I finally looked at the email.  It said, "The birth mother interview is scheduled for Tuesday October 2nd at 3:00".  What?!?!  That is next week!!  We immediately emailed our agency and Lesley responded with "that is unheard of, this can only be God".  

     So, now we wait to hear if she comes to the embassy appointment.  If she does appear we should clear that day.  I want to ask each of you to pray for Micah's birth mother.  I cannot imagine how difficult this is for her.  She has already gone over the reasons behind her relinquishing Micah to the regional court.  Now she will have to tell her story again.  I will not go into details but it is heart breaking.  I could never be angry with this woman.  She chose life for our son.  The day Micah was born I was at the Created for Care retreat for adoptive mothers.  That was the first time I realized I needed to be praying for the woman that would give birth to our son.  I broke into tears thinking about what she would go through.  When we got our referral and I saw the day he was born I was blown away.  We will forever be grateful to her for giving our son life.  

     Today I painted a picture to put in Micah's room.  I thought I would share it with you.

Prayer Requests

    We got an email from the U.S. embassy on Monday morning saying they want to interview the birth mother's father.  Remember, Micah's birth mother disappeared after she relinquished him.  She did go to the local court for that part and even had witnesses there.   One of the documents we have has her father listed as closest relatve.  We are thinking they just want to ask him if he knows the whereabouts of his daughter.

    This is where we need prayer!  Please pray that the orphanage is able to find him very soon.  If they can't find him we will tell the embassy that we can't find him.  We are not sure what they will say to that.  If they find him the earliest appointment for birth relatives is about 2-3 weeks out.  I am pretty bummed that I may not get to see our baby for another several weeks, but if they do find him John and I would love to meet him.  We want to find out about Micah's birth mother and her family history.  We feel that it is very important that we are able to give Micah some sort of picture of his birth family.  

     I must say this journey has been very stressful!!  I am so ready to bring our baby home.  Every day that passes is another day that he doesn't have his mommy and daddy to love him.  We are very thankful for Sheila and Lesley with our agencies.  After a conference call today my stress level was much better!  

     
     So.....please pray with us they find the grandfather soon!!  To God be all the glory!  And we know that the Lord has been and will continue to hold our hands through this!

SUBMITTED!!!

    I woke up in the middle of the night to check John's email and guess what I saw?!!  An email saying that our case was submitted to the U.S. embassy on September 13th!!  Of course I had to wake John up!!  
   Now we wait on them to review our case.  I have seen where the embassy will clear cases in just a couple of days or it could take weeks.  We are so thankful that we are on the last leg of this journey!  Thank you for the prayers!  

Praying for embassy and recovering

  On Monday this week I underwent a surgery that I have been putting off for quite some time.  The doctor had prepared us for the worst case scenario and told us to pray for the best.  I had to be on a clear liquid diet the whole weekend (yuck) and then take a TON of antibiotics Sunday night on an empty stomach.  I was feeling very sick Monday morning before the surgery had even started.  I think this was the way the Lord was helping me with my nerves.  I have never been this nervous going into a procedure simply because there were so many different things the doctors may need to do.  I made several of my friends promise me that if I was too sick to go get Micah when he clears embassy that they would get on a plane and bring him home.  I knew my husband would not be able to leave my side.  Well, prayers were definitely answered!!  The doctors were able to do everything laproscopic and my recovery is going to be much quicker.  Needless to say, I am not a very good patient!  I feel like I am losing my mind!  I have always been a complete freak about laying out the boys clothes the night before, making sure their backpacks are packed, lunches are packed with all of their favorite things, and all of the homework has been completed.  I am trying to realize it is okay if John doesn't doing everything exactly the way I do.  It....is....okay...  Life....does....go....on....!  
  
  Now on to a huge prayer request!!  Micah's paperwork has been ready to be submitted since last week.  We haven't gotten word from the embassy that his case has been submitted.  Once it is submitted they will go over all the paperwork and determine if they need to do any more investigation.  We are desperately praying we wake up tomorrow morning with an email from the U.S. Embassy saying that are case has been filed.  This will be the last step to getting little man home!  And can I tell you how much my heart is longing for him!  I was telling Lesley from Lifeline the other day that there are no words that can describe this feeling.  You literally just left your child halfway across the world and do not know when you will see him again.  It eats you up inside!!  So, please will join in praying with us that Micah's case gets filed and we can move on to this last step to get him home?

I am going to leave you with one of my favorite pictures I took while we were in Ethiopia.  I took this picture with my trusty ole iphone!

We are ready!

    We found out last week that Micah's new birth certificate and passport have arrived.  He will now go for his medical exam possibly next week.  Once this is complete we will finally be able to submit our case to the U.S. embassy.  This is where we have no clue how long it will take for embassy to clear  his case, but as soon as they do we will be on the first flight to Ethiopia to bring him home!!  Embassy could clear us in a week or it could take a month.  It is in God's hands.  

    Today we finished Micah's room!  It was such a huge relief to get this done because I will be having surgery next Monday.  I was in a mad dash to get the "big boys" room and Micah's room finished.  My mom will be spending the week with me after my surgery and she will help get all of the baby clothes washed and put away.  I'm hoping we can also make a trip to get bottles and other little things we may need.  Working on these rooms have really helped me with missing my little boy.  I could have never dreamed it would be this hard.  I thought the waiting for the referral call was brutal but it doesn't even compare to this wait!  Some days I look at my husband and say "I'm just so sad".  Bless my poor husband!  I know he is dealing with missing Micah too, but I can tell it is killing him to see me like this.  I keep telling myself "not much longer".  A sweet friend I have met through facebook was able to bring her two sons home this week.  While she was at the transition home she checked on Micah.  She sent me two great pictures of him!  It is such a blessing when a family doesn't  mind loving on your child while they are in country.  She said that he is a very happy boy and sleeps very well!

     I just wanted to leave you with some pictures of our little Micah's room.  I can't wait to see him peeking out of that crib!!