Waiting for A Tornado and An Email

Who wasn't listening for the sound of something like a train or the crash of trees this morning? Who knew we were so dependent upon the Emergency Sirens?
When I woke up at four this morning, there was no email from the Embassy. I thought, "She didn't make it." And then I began to wait for an email telling us our case was being sent to Nairobi. Instead, I received one that said our case had cleared and we had permission to travel!
We received an appointment with the Embassy for February 14th. Now we'll begin preparing to travel!
Praying God's will continues to be done and that we glorify Him in everything!!

This Just In...

It's now 5:44pm in Ethiopia. We just heard that the Finder is en route to Addis Ababa. It is roughly a five hour journey, so please be in prayer for her travel and her safety. The plan is for her to spend the night in Addis and meet with Embassy officials tomorrow morning.
Thank you for your continuing prayers!
Stay tuned!!

Maybe...baby

It's 4pm in Ethiopia right now. I imagine that if all is going according to the plan, someone from the Tikuret orphanage staff is driving to the Finder's house to pick her up. Perhaps they wind through the broken down streets, swerving to miss a group of goats or a skinny, leathered man trying to master the donkey pulling his cart.

Perhaps she reaches the Finder's house and the Finder has not disappeared, but is ready and willing to travel the five hours to Addis Ababa to spend the night and appear before the Embassy Wednesday morning.

Maybe this is happening right now as I begin my daily chores of cleaning bathrooms and ironing clothes.

I hope that maybe the orphanage staff will talk with the Finder about our case and maybe they will talk about the ONE true Finder. That is my hope. Perhaps someone will come to know HIM in all of this...maybe.

If all goes according to plan, maybe we'll wake up tomorrow morning and have an email from the Embassy (my penpal) telling us we're clear to travel to pick up Melaku. Maybe there will be no email.

For now, we will ask God to move in hearts like no one else can and we will ask that HIS will is done and not ours.

In our minds it would have been better to have traveled weeks ago, to be home and somewhat acclimated now. It would have been better to have finished this adoption a year ago...maybe.

We have to understand that this journey, even our little personal journey is so much bigger than us. Just like we're all smaller members of a bigger body of believers working together, so our lives are smaller parts of a bigger story.

Thank you for being on this journey with us, for being in this story with us. We'll be lifting Melaku, the finder, and the Embassy up all day and eagerly waiting to check my inbox in the morning, but our hearts are at peace that whatever the outcome of this day---God's will is best. That we know to be true.

This is the very first picture we received of Melaku. He was only six months old and had been in the orphanage for three months.

This picture cracks me up. I love his face! What's he so tickled about?!

Last Words

If I had only one thing to tell people on this day, it would be that God is on our side in this battle of good versus evil we call life. He wants us to make it! He fights for us! We heard today that the orphanage has made contact with the finder and the plan is for them to take her to the Embassy next Wednesday if the Embassy will give them an interview then.
Please continue to pray that above all, God's will is done.
God hears the cries of His people. He breathed life into Melaku and chose us to be his parents. He is writing this story. May He be glorified. You all are a part of this story. Cry to The Lord for this boy to come home to his family.

Look UP!

Today I'm reminded that God controls ALL things, even people's hearts. Today, I'm asking God to change the heart of one person--a woman in Hawassa, Ethiopia.
This woman is our finder---the person who discovered Melaku when he was three months old.
The orphanage contacted her by phone and asked if she is available for an Embassy interview this upcoming Monday. They heard nothing back and have not been able to get in touch with her because...wait for it...she has turned her phone off.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that she doesn't want to travel the five hours to Addis to interview with the Embassy about a baby she was unfortunate enough to find on the steps of her workplace.
The orphanage personnel is going to travel to Hawassa and attempt to speak with her in person and persuade her to come.
They'll never persuade her because we (humans) cannot change people's hearts---only GOD can.
I believe there is a delay in our case for a reason. I don't know what the reason is and I don't need to know because if I needed to know, God would show me.
I know this journey isn't just about Zack and me and a little boy in Ethiopia.  It's about a picture story that God is writing and I have no idea all the twists and turns that are involved in it.
I pray that we are at the climax of the story---the part in a story where the action peaks and you know the conflict is headed toward a resolution.
We have several prayer requests:
1. Pray first and foremost that God's will is accomplished. (May someone come to know Him as their personal Savior during this process!)
2. That God will soften the heart of the finder and she will travel for the interview.
3. If it's God's will for her not to travel, that our case will move quickly to Nairobi, Kenya and that the USCIS will process our case in a timely manner.

I'll leave you on a happy note...
Today is Melaku's FIRST birthday! So, Happy, Happy Birthday sweet Melaku Thurman!

Thank you for being on this journey with us!! PRAY!

 Don't you want to see this face in person?

As the Embassy Turns...And other dramatic stories

Forgive me two posts in one day, but I wanted to let everyone who is interested where we are in the Finder/Embassy/Agency/Orphanage saga. I hesitated to use the word facts in reference to anything I'm about to tell you because I'm just not sure of anything really.
First, Zack and I were really disappointed when we learned that the Finder interviewed schedule for today didn't happen. Our disappointment doesn't equal unbelief or wavering faith----we were just plain ole disappointed. Not in God, just the circumstances.
Second, I immediately contacted our case manager who is a sweet girl who works at our agency's office in North Carolina. She is always helpful, though a little awkward at times. (I can probably be described in the same way---helpful, but a little awkward at times.)
She contacted our agency's office in Ethiopia fondly referred to as CWAE and also the director of the orphanage that Melaku resides in known as Tikuret.
We learned many things from all of this contact.
Unbeknownst to us (and apparently the Embassy also) it is not CWAE's responsibility to get the Finder to the Embassy interview. It is the Tikuret orphanage's responsibility.
Apparently, the director of the orphanage set up an appointment with the Embassy before the Finder had been located in hopes of getting in the rotation of Embassy interviews and maybe locating the Finder in the meantime.
The Finder was not located and the interview was not kept. Also, the liaison from the orphanage did not contact the Embassy to inform them that the Finder had not been found and they would not be coming for the interview.
It was a classic "no show."  I'm not sure this set very well with the Embassy.
Now, the person from the orphanage says she knows who the Finder is. It is not who we previously were told it was. Previously we were told it was a police officer in Hawassa.
It is...are you ready....a nurse. (SMH, too)
So said nurse has been on vacation apparently and the orphanage folks hadn't been able to locate her or "get in touch with her". ( Use those terms loosely---it is a third world country.)
The orphanage has decided to ask for another appointment next week sometime because they believe the Finder/Nurse will be home from vacation this upcoming Monday.

We trust God's timing and know it's best. We also understand that adoption is a picture of salvation and satan hates that and he hates our adoption and what it'll mean for Melaku.
Please, please, please pray, pray, pray that the Finder would indeed be found, that the Embassy would allow another interview appointment next week, the Finder would be at it, the Embassy would be satisfied and we would be cleared to travel.
Thank you all!! We appreciate you!

God IS Faithful

We woke up off and on last night to check our email hoping to find one that said we were clear to travel. There was never an email, so I took a chance and emailed the Embassy myself.
I got a prompt and kind reply. The Finder did not make it to the interview and our agency did not contact the Embassy to tell them why he didn't.
Today as I drink my cup of disappointment I will rest in the fact that God is faithful. He is always on time. He never just doesn't show up.
Today, I will be looking up at Him and not at my circumstances!
Please pray, pray, pray that God will supernaturally bring things together so that Melaku can come home.
We appreciate ALL of you and your faithfulness to us!

Finding the Finder

I'm not going to lie--I doubted his existence. Alas, he does exist and has an interview with the Embassy January 16th. After this interview we will know more about our case and if we'll travel soon.
Please pray the interview goes well and that Melaku is home soon!

Thanks for taking this journey with us. We are so grateful for each of you!