I'm Leaving on an Airplane...

That's right dear friends...We got a court date! Monday, November 12th is our official court date.
We will leave NEXT week to arrive three days prior to our court date in order to meet MELAKU and spend some time with him before Monday. We will then travel back on Tuesday probably.
If you don't know about flying to Africa---It's a really LONG flight and lots of layovers and stops.
Pray for us!
Pray also that all of our paperwork and that the MOWCY will submit all of Melaku's paperwork on time so our case will be complete and finalized on November 12th. If they don't have the paperwork submitted, then we will still travel, but our case may not be finalized on November 12th. God is faithful and we trust His plans and work in this. Whatever happens we trust is His best for us and Melaku.
It's amazing to think that this time two weeks from now, I'll have met my son, James Melaku!

We are now running around crazy---well John Owen is running around crazy, but that's normal for him. We are booking flights and the guest house and praying that God will guide us to get the best price for everything. We want to be good stewards of the money He has provided for this adoption.

A thousand "thank you's" to all of you who have walked this journey with us and for those of you maybe just joining. May God bless you each immensely for your part in fighting for this orphan and for orphans everywhere.

Holy Cow! We're headed to Ethiopia NEXT week!!!

When the Lord is a blessin', the devil is a messin'!

We learned today that we were submitted to court. This may seem confusing, as the adoption process is somewhat confusing (I think.) We DON'T have a court date yet. Our paperwork has been submitted to the Ethiopian court and they have been asked for a court date.
We'll actually get two court dates. The first one we don't have to be there for. Our agency will send a representative on our behalf and they will take care of the process. The second court date we WILL have to be present for.
Our case manager has said that we will most likely not receive any word from the court for 2-3 weeks. When we do hear from the court, we will receive two dates. The first one we won't worry over; the second one will be the date we will be required to appear before the judge in Ethiopia.
We will need to immediately make travel plans to arrive two days prior to this court date in order to meet Melaku and spend time with him. Then we will appear before the judge and he/she will decide if we are to legally be Melaku's parents. Once this decision is made---it is final in the eyes of the Ethiopian court.
Then we will return home (to our crazy funny boy John Owen) and wait to be submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia. They will process our paperwork and request for Melaku's US Citizenship.
This will most likely take 4-6 weeks.
Then they will email us (yes, email) and tell us when to appear before them with Melaku to receive his US Citizenship. We will travel to Ethiopia and arrive a day before our Embassy appointment. We will take custody of Melaku and then appear before the Embassy. We will then wait two business days to receive his passport and visa so we can travel home.
Then we will get on that big ol' aeroplane and head back to the US and to where the grass is blue and the horses are fast---HOME!
And then IT IS FINISHED and he is ours and we can claim victory in the war on orphans!

Pray with us and for us during this time. As Zack said this morning and I quote, "When the Lord is a blessin', the devil is a messin'!"
Pray for the funds to travel, pray for faithfulness on our part to wait patiently and to be a light in a dark world.
Pray for John Owen and the transition from TOP DAWG, to big brother extraordinaire!
Pray that the Lord begins a work in the hearts of every person we meet and encounter in Ethiopia that we may share the Gospel and show them the Gospel!

Thanks for riding along on this journey with us. Things really are heating up now, so buckle in and hang on!

Moving Along

Things are moving for sure.
We received word today that we'd most likely be submitted to court for a court date next week.
We also received almost thirty, twenty-eight to be exact, new pictures of Melaku.
He's growing and we saw two teeth. Soon we'll get to meet him in person. We hope to take pictures of us, his family when we go.
Keep up the prayers! Let's get baby James as John Owen calls him home.

And So It Begins

Today is October 5th.
Today the courts in Ethiopia reopened. Actually Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of us, so they've been reopened for some time.
Today we received an email with Melaku's test results.
His final test is done!
We approved the results (as we knew we would all along) and now we can be submitted for court.

An interesting note for our Buck Run family. Melaku is in the Tikuret orphanage in Addis. Some of our folks traveled there this past spring and visited the very orphanage that he is living in now.
Interesting how big our world can seem, when it actuality it isn't so big.
Praying that God helps us know this as we seek to live outside of our own "little" world and help those around us (even those thousands of miles away from us).

We continue to wait patiently for God's timing for court.
This process could take a while or could happen very soon.

Thanks for taking this journey with us!

Blood Draws

This has been a theme in our life lately.

From my bloody toes from running the Bourbon Chase to Melaku's blood being drawn for his last test prior to our submission to court, blood has been apart of our lives.

Malaku's blood being drawn is way more exciting than bloody toes.

We are thankful to receive this news and praying that he receives the test and we get the results.

Our case manager is working to get more pictures and an update.

We continue to wait patiently on the Lord's timing.

Thanks for your continued prayers! We know God is moving!

Endurance Part Two

Endurance is definitely the word for our family.
We received word from our case manager that the lab in Ethiopia has a few of the tests that Melaku needs, but they are not available publicly. This means the orphanage will take Malaku to the lab and ask that he be tested. They plan to do that this week, so we may still get the results and get submitted right as court reopens this Friday.
If not, we trust God's work and timing.
Please join us in praying that Melaku is able to get the test and the we're able to get the results back and submitted for a court date very soon.

Hope I can update with good news soon!

Thanks for praying!