Court Tomorrow!
Filed under {!-- ra:000000006f199d0500000000249ef9da --}{if 'Court Tomorrow!' == '52home' && category_name == '52home'} Motherhood | Adoption {if:else} Motherhood | Adoption {/if}These past few days with our two new children have been simply delightful. We have been well-served by wonderful staff from our adoption agency here in Ethiopia and we have made great friends with the other families who are also adopting children. Jack and Tori have had a blast riding in a van with no seat belts, eating popcorn, and drinking mango juice at an Ethiopian restaurant, and most of all playing with their new brother and sister. Steve posted the following update on our adoption blog. Thank you for your continued prayers that we will pass court tomorrow! Nicole
We had another wonderful day with the kids today. We’re discovering, by trial and error, what our kids like. We’ve discovered that they like fruit snacks, but who doesn’t? Piggy-back rides are a hit. They love balloons, but not if you tie off the end. Soccer was popular, and coloring never disappoints. They love hugs and kisses no matter what. And they’re getting lots of them.
Leaving these two this afternoon was the first real difficulty of the trip. Our sweet new son, who is at times thoughtful and at times playful, became clingy and emotional like we haven’t seen him yet. We’ve known from the beginning of this process that there is a moment coming when we’ll have to say goodbye to these kids and leave them for a month or two while we wait for our their visas to make it through the embassy. Torture. We’ve been dreading that moment, and today was an appetizer. That moment will come for us tomorrow afternoon and I don’t know how we will make it. Please pray for us.
The other significant moment that comes tomorrow is our visit to Ethiopian court. The judge has the authority to determine whether these kids become ours or not. We were heartened to receive a favorable letter from the Ministry of Women’s, Children’s, and Youth Affairs, but that doesn’t guarantee the outcome we want tomorrow. Only about 50% of families make it the first time. So, we would appreciate your prayers, not just for us but also for the other three families who will be joining us in the courtroom. Please pray that we would find favor from the judge so that tomorrow these two children would become in the courtroom what they already are in our hearts: the newest addition to the Whitacre family.