March Numbers - Worthy of Praise

Our March numbers have been late in coming... For the 5 people who read this blog ;), you've probably heard directly from us the news on the Ethiopian adoption front. In case not, I'll give a quick run down. MOWA who is in charge of reviewing all international adoption case in Ethiopia, decided it best to decrease their daily case flow due to a lack in staffing & to help guard against any corruption. From what I understand {feel like I need to caveat because I sometimes think I know better than I really do, ;)} they review the cases to make sure everything about the case checks out fine. If so, they "approve" it, & pass their ruling on to the Ethiopian court who makes the final judgement of whether or not you can adopt your child.

No MOWA approval = No court approval = No taking your baby home anytime soon :(

The unfortunate thing is that it was a drastic reduction from reviewing 40-50 cases a day (worldwide) to 5; thus, basically decreasing the amount of approvals made, some have said, up to 90% a year. Obviously this is a huge deal, but I don't want to speculate on it too much because the implications have yet to be figured out. And, that's the point. Our poor, sweet agency has been working overtime to get answers & help encourage a change where it can, that they have had to delay getting out updates on referral numbers.

Ok, ready??

#16 for girls

#10 for boys

We are THRILLED beyond words for this movement!!

Are you ready for some MORE good news? We got our letter today from Show Hope, Stephen Curtis Chapman's amazing orphan care organization. We got approved for a grant to cover some of our adoption costs!!! The Lord is so good, & we are so thankful! I was about to write that I haven't been that worried about the finances, just trusting in God for His provision, but that's a lie really. While I have been confident that the Lord would make it work for us to afford to adopt, I've been stressed at times at how we were going to afford everything else that comes along with having a baby. Of course He'll cover the adoption, that was His will for us. {Speaking of, I have another blog post that I have thought about doing telling that story. Someone of the 5, hold me to that because we all can see how great I am at posting! Ha!} However, the hard part comes when it's time to trust God with the "extra" desires of my heart. Is it merited that I want a reasonably cute nursery? Will the Lord provide for that AND formula & diapers?? I have to continuously remind myself to release all of the desires of my heart to the Father. Let me be clear, I struggle with the answer to these questions, but what I do know is that He is GOOD whether any of my desires are met or not. Yet, I believe He is our Father, & He wants us to trust him with those thoughts, which He already knows anyway. :) So, thank you, Lord, for your provision in this way. It reminds me first & foremost to give You the glory & secondly that my faith needs to be bigger.

BTW, I know I glossed over the MOWA delay above, but in all honesty last week was a REALLY hard week. I just felt so lost in it all - hurting for my child & the other children over there that would be left in injustice by the longer wait times & confused with how the Lord is shaping my days in the meantime. Someone tweeted out the verses Psalms 68:5-6a:

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

God sets the lonely in families

I have been clinging to that & to other Promises, realizing that God loves these children more that I can ever imagine to love them so He has to have a bigger picture/better plan with all of this. After spending time praying through these verses, I am resting easier in Him & His control. {Also, for all of you praying, KEEP IT UP! There's a rumor that MOWA is considering increasing to 20 cases a day!! Still less than half of what they were doing, but MUCH better than 5!}

See what I mean? He IS Worthy of Praise!