Stuck

We wish we had good news but not yet.

Ethiopia has essentially closed their adoption program. They are saying it's a temporary suspension. We are in limbo for now. L is legally ours according to their court system but the branch of their government that issues birth certificates to allow adopted children out of the country has stopped issuing paperwork. For the time being L is stuck in Ethiopia. To be honest, the more information we receive the more bleak our situation looks. We wish we had a better understanding of what's going on, but it seems pretty complicated.

Our adoption agency and the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia and other organizations are going to bat for us, but we have no idea what the outcome will be or how long this process will take.

Emotionally this is definitely a trying time. We thought the hard part was over. We left Ethiopia believing we would be back in 4-6 weeks to pick up our son. But now we're back to waiting with a lot of unknowns. We were so close. If we had received the court decree just 4 days sooner, we would have squeaked through just before the adoption suspension. After 3 and half years, it came down to 4 DAYS. 

It doesn't make sense to us, but we are confident that God is in control. None of this surprises Him. He has allowed it for reasons we may never know. And we are going to trust Him to fight for L, to fight for our family, and to fight for so many hurting, needy orphans in Africa. 

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14

For now, we hold our peace.