We woke Thursday morning, March 28 to the e-mail we've been praying for: "CASE CLEARED". Our older daughter cleared Feb 26, and we've been praying for weeks now that our younger daughter would clear Embassy so we could go get them. But I'm not sure we were truly prepared for our prayers to be answered.
We've surely seen the glory of God on display over and over again throughout the past 13+ months, so I don't know WHY we weren't prepared-- we just weren't. We hadn't thought through all the logistics of what would happen once we received Embassy clearance, I suppose.
As it turns out, the next 29 hours would be some of the most exhaustive hours of my life! The emotional high-low-high roller coaster of clearance, appointment requests, figuring out when to leave, booking flights (on super short notice!), and getting packed (remember we have 4 kids at home, too!) just about wiped me out! But since I'm an adrenaline junkie, the highs carried me through until today, where I've slept on every flight thus far. :)
We sleep tonight in DC; our direct flight to Ethiopia leaves tomorrow morning at 11am. We'll arrive Monday at 7:45am ET time; we get to see our girls immediately, and we'll spend our entire time in country with them!! We will be seen Tuesday, April 2 at 1pm at the US Embassy in Addis Ababba, Ethiopia. We must wait 48 hours after our appointment to pick up visas to bring our girls home. We'll leave Thursday night at 10:15 ET to bring our girls home forever.
We'll return to the states Friday, April 5-- arriving in Louisville at 6pm Friday evening. Even as I type these logistics and update, it all seems quite surreal, like I'm watching someone else play me in some crazy movie. I'm excited, scared, hopeful, anxious, peaceful and terrified all at the same time. How is that even possible??!!
I LOVE being a part of God's story, and I am FOREVER THANKFUL that the Lord has allowed us to be the mom and dad to these 2 girls, as well as our other 4 back home. He is so kind and merciful to us, and gives us far more than we could ever deserve. A good friend wrote to me Thursday that she is reminded of God's amazing story in our adoption: it was Christmas when we first met them, and it is Christmas that reveals God's promise to us in the Christ child; it is Easter when we get to bring them home, and it is Easter that reveals the fulfillment of God's promise in the Resurrected Christ! Our adoption began with a promise, that we'd be their parents, and ends with fulfillment, that we'll bring them home!!!
Thank you again for walking this road with us; this is most definitely NOT the end.... just as a bride prepares for her wedding day, which marks the BEGINNING of the journey, so too does the past 13+ months of preparation mark the BEGINNING of our journey parenting 2 more blessings from the Lord!
Please join us Friday, April 5 at 6pm at the airport for a celebration unlike any other!! Our family will FINALLY be TOGETHER!! I can't wait! :)
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