For those of you that have been keeping up with our "journey" you know that tomorrow in Ethiopia (which is overnight for us here) the courts will reopen after being closed for nearly a month. We were told this is because of "training meetings" and "moving the court's location." We were directly impacted by this closure because we need a court-ordered document in order to receive our first court date. For those that need clarification, our court date is when we travel on our 1st trip. So court closure = no movement for us.
So, tomorrow the wait for news begins again. The last few weeks I have kinda known that nothing was going to happen, so I just tried to push adoption thoughts to the back burner. (I was only mildly successful at this attempt) I am hopeful for news this week, but I am sure the courts will be very backed up, so I don't really anticipate we will get this resolved until the second week in March at the earliest.
Thank goodness my husband realized how stressful this has become and is taking me back here for a few days for an unexpected little "Babymoon" since we now have some free time:
So, back to how things are going.
As I have said before, I am so tired. I am tired of adoption, Ethiopia, ethical conversations about adoption, adoption stories that are horrifying, ALL OF IT. I am done, spent, cashed-in, overwhelmed and just. plain. tired. I just want our girl home.
On top of just waiting for our case to finalize, the adoption climate in Ethiopia has taken a sharp and negative turn. The politics and opinions surrounding International Adoption in Ethiopia are sharply divided. This divide is starting to have a big impact on all Ethiopian adoptions. As I have mentioned before, sometimes things happen that just SHOULD NOT happen in adoption, and their Government is taking notice, as they should. What will come of it all? I'm not sure. But when we started this 2nd adoption we didn't know how intense this divide would become. Ethiopia is now ridden with people who are eager to "cash in" on the adoption process. It is heartbreaking. Adoption is a business in Ethiopia now, and the millions of orphans there are suffering the consequences because of it.
I say this because I want people to understand that if someone asked me if they should adopt from Ethiopia right now, I would reluctantly say, "no." That statement absolutely breaks my heart to write, but it's the truth. Ethiopia needs to revamp their processes (we have been told these changes will come, but we do not know when) and until those changes are made and they find a way to weed out the growing number of money-hungry people, I think new families into the process should be very limited. Now I know what many of you are thinking, "Easy to say now that they are almost done!" Well, I assure you, the climate in Ethiopia was not like it is right now when we began her adoption. Yes, we knew it was not the most stable process ever, but no adoption is guaranteed and we were willing to take on those risks. But, the risks are higher now and the political games are more active than ever. It is simply a different place that is in need of more reform. I hope and pray they get that reform, as the children of Ethiopia deserve it. (In saying this, I think reform is needed IN ETHIOPIA, it's frustrating because our process stateside have now become so intense and hard to comply with that it has become almost nauseating. There just has to be a middle ground between the two.)
In saying all of this though, Zoe needs us regardless of what political games are happening right now, she is undoubtably an orphaned child, and she is our daughter. We love her and we want her home.
So, with that, we press on. Press on to this final step and the wait begins again tomorrow.
In the meantime, remember this?
Speaking of prayer, if you would like to join in our nationwide prayer group, please visit this link and sign up for a time to pray for our adoption (and several other friends from our agency who are in very similar situations). We want round-the-clock prayer to get our children out of institutions and at home where they belong.
Until next time...
So, tomorrow the wait for news begins again. The last few weeks I have kinda known that nothing was going to happen, so I just tried to push adoption thoughts to the back burner. (I was only mildly successful at this attempt) I am hopeful for news this week, but I am sure the courts will be very backed up, so I don't really anticipate we will get this resolved until the second week in March at the earliest.
Thank goodness my husband realized how stressful this has become and is taking me back here for a few days for an unexpected little "Babymoon" since we now have some free time:
(Yes, I realize we went to Ft. Lauderdale just last month. However, it was for a conference for Mark's work so we didn't see much of him, and we only had 1 day of nice weather. It was SUCH a tease of what an amazing vacation can be. So, we are having a redo! This time, Eli is with Grandma and Mark will NOT be working. REALLY hoping for better weather too.)
So, back to how things are going.
As I have said before, I am so tired. I am tired of adoption, Ethiopia, ethical conversations about adoption, adoption stories that are horrifying, ALL OF IT. I am done, spent, cashed-in, overwhelmed and just. plain. tired. I just want our girl home.
On top of just waiting for our case to finalize, the adoption climate in Ethiopia has taken a sharp and negative turn. The politics and opinions surrounding International Adoption in Ethiopia are sharply divided. This divide is starting to have a big impact on all Ethiopian adoptions. As I have mentioned before, sometimes things happen that just SHOULD NOT happen in adoption, and their Government is taking notice, as they should. What will come of it all? I'm not sure. But when we started this 2nd adoption we didn't know how intense this divide would become. Ethiopia is now ridden with people who are eager to "cash in" on the adoption process. It is heartbreaking. Adoption is a business in Ethiopia now, and the millions of orphans there are suffering the consequences because of it.
I say this because I want people to understand that if someone asked me if they should adopt from Ethiopia right now, I would reluctantly say, "no." That statement absolutely breaks my heart to write, but it's the truth. Ethiopia needs to revamp their processes (we have been told these changes will come, but we do not know when) and until those changes are made and they find a way to weed out the growing number of money-hungry people, I think new families into the process should be very limited. Now I know what many of you are thinking, "Easy to say now that they are almost done!" Well, I assure you, the climate in Ethiopia was not like it is right now when we began her adoption. Yes, we knew it was not the most stable process ever, but no adoption is guaranteed and we were willing to take on those risks. But, the risks are higher now and the political games are more active than ever. It is simply a different place that is in need of more reform. I hope and pray they get that reform, as the children of Ethiopia deserve it. (In saying this, I think reform is needed IN ETHIOPIA, it's frustrating because our process stateside have now become so intense and hard to comply with that it has become almost nauseating. There just has to be a middle ground between the two.)
In saying all of this though, Zoe needs us regardless of what political games are happening right now, she is undoubtably an orphaned child, and she is our daughter. We love her and we want her home.
So, with that, we press on. Press on to this final step and the wait begins again tomorrow.
In the meantime, remember this?
We bought this little set for Eli years ago and sent it to him while he was at the orphanage.
So, this week I bought this:
Please pray we get there to give it to her very soon.
Speaking of prayer, if you would like to join in our nationwide prayer group, please visit this link and sign up for a time to pray for our adoption (and several other friends from our agency who are in very similar situations). We want round-the-clock prayer to get our children out of institutions and at home where they belong.
Until next time...
