OUR COURT DATE!!! From the moment we woke up, we had a sense of confidence and peace. Not necessarily that we would pass court, but that God's hand was on every detail and that He was in complete control of the timing and our adoption. Our agency's Ethiopia director and friend of ours, came to the guest home to talk with us and the Burke family about what to expect. We were informed that she did not think that our favorable letters had been received by the judge from MOWYCA. We got our passports, loaded up the van and headed to the Federal High Court. It's not what you would expect a court to look like. We hiked up about 4 floors to a fairly packed waiting room with mostly standing room only. One by one, families were called in to see the judge based on the orphanage name. After about 30 minutes or so, we were called in – the Burkes and our family.
The courtroom is more like an office. The judge sits at her desk, there are a couple of clerks and stacks and stacks of files everywhere. The judge thinks favorably towards adoption, but she is professional and we can tell she takes this very seriously. She did not make eye contact until the clerk had located both of our family's files. She spoke quietly and kindly, but was also firm about her statements and questions. She seemed very pleased to see how well Sakari has grown up as a thriving child. Sakari even shared her birthday with the judge and she even cracked a smile as she talked with our daughter.
With some closing statements, she calming declared the Burkes adoption finalized and that our family's file still needed our updated home study. It was somewhat anti-climatic. In our minds, there should have been fan fare and fireworks. We all looked around and asked if we heard that the Burkes passed and they did!!!! We were so excited for them because they could fly back home a few days later knowing their sweet daughter was theirs forever! The judge was very kind to us and let us know that the issue with our paperwork could be resolved within a couple of weeks, when our adoption could be finalized. Now, we knew why we had such peace. We felt relief and confidence in knowing that this was an easy fix and that since we have decided to stay until our embassy date, we could visit our son every day. We now will have to stay an additional 6-7 weeks here in Ethiopia, but we all love it here and know that God's plan and timing is perfect!
After court, Becca took Sakari back to the guest home for lunch and a nap while I met up with a few other families to tour a coffee processing plant. It was so fun! That afternoon, we all went to the transition home to spend time with our kids. He fell asleep in the Ergo this afternoon. He only fusses a little when he is tired and falls asleep quite easily.
We've met some amazing families and had to say good bye to several of them, but are happy to know that we'll more than likely see them again when they return for their embassy appointments and they can take their kids home!
0 comments:
Post a Comment