Bittersweet

Today was our last day here in Ethiopia. We head home tonight on a midnight
flight. It was a very emotionally draining day for us here. We woke up and had
breakfast and didn't know if our court date was in morning or afternoon. The
AWAA staff arrived and told us to load up to head to court around 9:15. We went
to the court house (totally not how I pictured it...think local DMV office) and
stood around for a bit as birth families were there giving their consent first.
We were then called by name to enter the one little room where the adoption
judge sits. We were called in with 3 other families (which we've never heard
of) and we all answered her mainly yes or no questions and were done within
about 7 minutes. She informed us the MOWA letters had not been delivered that
day and she would let us know that afternoon. We left the courthouse and came
back to the guest house and were told to wait in our rooms and we would be
called down one a time to meet with our birth moms/families. I had a hard time
anticipating this meeting. I'm still not sure I've processed much of it at all.
We met with her for about 15 minutes and then after an emotional goodbye to her
we went up to our rooms and waited for lunch. I realize I'm passing over that
part of our day without much emotion or detail but until you've been in that
situation personally there really are no words to describe it. I'm sure I'll
process through it and feel the need to write it about it soon. We enjoyed
lunch and then headed to the TH to see our daughter for the last afternoon.
After a while the AWAA liason came by and told us that three families had
confirmed letters written by MOWA that should be at court in morning which means
an approval coming in less than 24 hours. The other families' letters were not
written yet and they should find out if they will have to be given a new court
date. We were one of the 3 with confirmed letters! We're thrilled with this
news but it's been bittersweet as we've grown very close to these other families
and it was hard to see their dissapointment and share in that with them. We
then spent the rest of the afternoon with our daughter until they told us it was
time to say goodbye. We let her go knowing our God will be protecting and
surrounding her with angels. We are worn out from a fantastic albeit draining
trip and will head home tonight on a midnight flight. We ask for your prayers
for our flight home...for our connection in Amsterdam; that it would take off to
Houston on time so we would be able to avoid the chaos from last week getting
here. We also ask for your prayers for our daughter and her health right now.
And lastly we ask for your prayers for the families that are still waiting to
hear confirmation that they have passed court to be able to move forward in
brining their children home. This is a tough season of waiting and especially
going through the holidays being apart from our sweet children. We so
appreciate your prayers throughout our journey...we know God is faithful even
when we can't see it and we look forward to celerating his son's birth in a
couple of days with our family.

Autumn