Let me tell you a little about court...or at least our experience. (You can scroll down to *** to bypass all the details.) We, with 2 other families staying with us at the guest house, left for court at 9:00 (who knows when the scheduled time was to be...we were on what Tory and one of the other members of our party dubbed "Ethiopian Standard Time"). We arrived at the court building, walked the steps to about the 3rd floor, were taken into a room filled with people, few Americans, many Africans. We asked if the birth parents were also in the room, and it was confirmed that they were. So of course, we scanned the room trying to place them with our child. (Tory and I totally had the wrong guy pinned.) We waited about 5-10 minutes which felt like an hour due to the rapid heart rate, light headedness, and shaky knees--for the mamas at least. Someone came out of the room and in Amharic called in the birth parents. In about 3 minutes they came back out and we (all three adoptive families) were escorted in together giving our passports to the guy at the door. We sat in some folding chairs against a wall, while the judge sat at a folding table across the room. She asked us a few questions as a group, not knowing us from the couple next to us I assume: Have you met your adopted child? Are there children in your home? Have you made efforts to learn about the Ethiopian culture? Do you have plans to incorporate the Ethiopian culture into your home? Will you continue your education on raising adoptive children? Are you prepared to deal with the struggles that come with having a child from another country? In which we all together nodded "yes" to each. She then proceeded to tell us all things were in order and we would hear word of our case by the end of the day. We thanked her and were escorted out of the room - 3 minutes tops.
So from this point we felt very confident and were encouraged that all was a go. Later that afternoon, we received word that one of the other couples had passed court and that it was just a delayed paperwork issue, but that we would receive word of whether or not we had passed court by the end of the week. That day came today.
***We talked to our agency today and were informed that we had not yet passed court due to a form from the Ethiopian organization, MOWA, that had not made it to the court date. (Meerly a documentation formality on the Ethiopian side of things, not ours.) She says this happens often and there is nothing that can be done about it. Our case will be heard again on February 7. This does not mean that we will not get Hannah or that our adoption will not go through, it just means we wait a little longer. We don't have to go back for the new court date as we have a POA assigned through the agency. Though not ideal, these things just happen. We knew that when we started the process. Frustrating, yes. But we trust in God who is Sovereign over all things, including MOWA. Please be praying for our new court date on Feb. 7, that all paperwork would be there, that all our I's are dotted and T's crossed, and for peace for us as we wait this out.
Count it all joy, my brother, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
We appreciate all of the comments and encouragement we have received from all of you. We feel blessed by your love and prayers. Thank you. Scroll down to see pictures of our sweet baby girl and watch in the coming days as we post more on our trip.
