Before we went to Africa we were pretty busy. There were several things on our "to-do" list that didn't get done. One of them was cutting Joseph's hair. So, while we were in Ethiopia, he got a true Ethiopian hair cut!!! We thought his hair was out of control, but some of our friends kept telling us that it was fine.
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So much has happened since I last blogged. We got Faith's referral on August 11th. We previously had scheduled a vacation to visit some friends in Egypt on August 19th - 24th. Thankfully, we had about week between receiving the referral and leaving for vacation. We are the type of people that need some time to process. Plus, we had to see a doctor about her medical report before we could formally sign and send in her "Referral Acceptance Agreement."
The next step was to schedule the Visit Trip. This is important because we are living overseas. Since we will prove we saw her before her adoption is finalized, she will automatically be a citizen when she crosses U.S. soil. We will be able to get Faith a U.S. passport quickly while we're in the States. This makes it easy for us to return to our home overseas.
Before we left for vacation we heard from the adoption agency that it would be a possibility to visit the orphanage the week of August 25th. So, we packed for two climates as it's warm in Egypt and cold in Ethiopia. We heard back from the agency that August 25th was open and we could indeed go that week, so we booked our tickets from our friends' house in Egypt!!!! haha!!! CrAzY!!!!
We traveled overnight from Cairo to Addis Ababa (stopping for an hour in Khartoum) arriving on August 25th. We were in Ethiopia from the 25th to the 28th. Tim, Joseph, and I left a piece of our hearts there. We fell in love with a beautiful, smiley, tiny baby girl. She's totally ours. Hand picked for us. We enjoyed every minute we had with her. Leaving her was more difficult that I had imagined it would be.
On the first day, when we pulled up there she was....in the director's wife's arms....outside waiting for us!!!! She was tiny!!! I got out of the car and wanted to hold her. I couldn't stop looking at her. How in the world could she be 8 months old?!??!! She's so tiny!! Look at all that hair!!!!!! She was just so precious!! All we wanted was to get her healthy. How can we get her to a doctor?!? And then....she smiled....She had our hearts at that point on.
Tim and I were there, but where was Joseph??? HAHAHA!!!! He was suddenly the center of attention among the staff. They were soo excited!!! JO!!!! JOYEH!!! (this means MY JO) They loved seeing him again! This was such a highlight that we brought him with us. Abdissa, the director said to us, "You are historical for bringing one of our kids back to us." :) They loved on him all week long.
The next day we took Faith to the doctor. The doctor did the same thing I did and right away said, "This baby is not 8 months old!" She called Abdissa, the director of the orphanage, and got more of the medical history. Turns out she's 5-6 months old. In the next few weeks we should be hearing back from the orphanage about an exact birth date. She will have an adjusted birth date. The doctor did a thorough check on her and said she's healthy, but underweight. She also had some blood tests done...which all came back normal. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!
The last two days we had some great time with Faith!!! We also had great time with the Staff at the Thomas Center (the name of the orphanage). They realize that she needs extra attention due to her low weight. She needs to be fed more than most babies to catch up to a normal weight. They're also going to do their best to get her through court quickly. Sadly, though, there will be no more court hearings until October. So, we will continue to TRUST in HIS PERFECT TIMING!!! I think that's called FAITH!! :)
Last week we got a referral!!!!!!!!!! We've been in shock ever since. But we're totally in love!!! She's beautiful!!!!! I wish I could post pictures, but I can't. If I did, we could lose our opportunity to finalize her adoption or to adopt in Ethiopia. So, we'll wait.
The Ethiopian name that she has been given is Bethlehem. Isn't that beautiful?? I love it!! The name we're going to give her is Faith. Her name will be Faith Bethlehem Saltzman.
She's already 8 months old. We don't have a lot of information about her yet....of course we're requesting to get more information. What we know is that in her short life she's already struggled with malnutrition and on the limited medical records that we have there is a note about a "slightly reduced" thyroid issue. We have done our research and talked to a doctor and for those of you who have a medical background, you know that this could be a big or small issue.
We are accepting Faith Bethlehem's referral with a step of Faith. We are fully trusting that God is in control of her life and ours. We know that He will give us the grace to get through whatever challenges might come her way and ours. We believe that He is the One who has placed this sweet little girl in our lives!! We can't wait to meet her and we hope to do that soon!!!!!
You might be wondering what's next. Well, we need to go to Ethiopia to visit her before our paperwork goes to the Ethiopian courts. Then, there will be the Ethiopian Court Date. We don't have a Court Date yet. IF/When we pass court in Ethiopia (we don't have to be there) then we will go get her three weeks later. We will bring her to the States for a visit and to take care of her immigration paperwork before we return home to the Middle East.
Right now there's lots of unknowns. We've sent our referral acceptance agreement and we're waiting to know when we can visit her and we're waiting on a Court Date. You'll notice I keep capitalizing "Court Date." That's because it's the most pivotal part. So, please begin praying for this. Pray, pray, pray!!!! Pray that we pass!!!! Pray that we can get through quickly.
Oh, and about the rainy season and courts closing....this is what we were told by the agency: "The courts haven't closed YET so we just keep working." That's all they or we know and that's all we can know. But, we were told to still expect a court date at the beginning of October.
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I know I have not updated in a while lately. I guess I've had a lot to "process" in the area of this adoption. I have had to accept the fact that we will not make it through the rainy season. As far as we know the courts will close during August and September and we will not have a court date and go pick up our baby girl. I guess I have been feeling like Joseph looks in this picture:
We don't have a referral yet...we just keep waiting, waiting, waiting. On top of waiting for a referral, everything in Ethiopia is so uncertain right now. The blog is a very public place to talk about it and that's why I can't make all of the details clear here, especially when it comes to our case. Though we don't have much of a case right now. We're just waiting, waiting, waiting.
Part of me feels like Cookie Monster did when he lost his cookie:
The other part of me feels a little like Oscar, who wants to be negative all the time:
Haha!! Can you tell that Joseph is getting into Sesame Street these days? Well, we're just doing our best to keep ourselves entertained while we wait!
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God has been working on my heart lately. Just a couple days ago I heard a touching sermon about eemaan يمان, the Arabic word for faith. (the sermon was in Arabic) I have been thinking a lot about the verse Hebrews 11:6 which says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” "بدون يمان لا يمكن إرضاء الله، لانّ من يتقرب إليه،لا بدّ ان يومن بانّه موجود و انّه يكافىء الذين يطلبونه" العبرانيين ١١:٦
So here’s what it all comes down to…Faith!!! I must believe that He is exists (is in control of this adoption) and rewards those who earnestly seek him (is taking care of all the details of this adoption). I can honestly say that I do believe these things only because God is helping me, not because I can produce this kind of faith on my own.
So, here’s some of the details as best I understand it: we got an email about a month ago from the adoption agency that said there is a delay in the court system in Ethiopia because they want a follow up on some police reports on abandonment cases for children abandoned in Addis Ababa, which is the capital city in Ethiopia. I’m not sure that anyone really knows what this means exactly. How do you get more information on an abandoned child? (that’s our question) Our biggest question is: is our baby girl one of these cases? Another unanswered question. Right now, it’s just a delay.
We’ve been told that some representatives from the agency are on their way to Ethiopia in the next week or so and we should have some answers before too long.
Another big delay is the rainy season. The courts close in Ethiopia for the rainy season for August and September. It has been my fear that we would get a referral in July and have to wait through the rainy season for a court date until we could go pick up our baby girl. Again…this is only a delay….that’s it. I just have to go back to Hebrews 11:6 and remember to have faith. I know that God is in control. He always has been and always will be. He’s in control of so much more than this adoption.
It feels so good to write these things down to remind myself what I believe. I hope it’s encouraging to you.
Are you a little bored of this blog and want to know more about our life? Go check out our family blog
Read more...We don't have any referral news for you. Oh how we wish we do. We've been told that we should know something in a few weeks. (that was a few weeks ago)
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