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!