We Will Wait

Okay, I'm going to break my silence.  Ha, you didn't even know I had something to be silent about, did you?

I don't really want to weigh in on my opinions, but this week has been a big part of our adoption journey and this blog is my 'diary' of sorts so I feel an entry about this needs to be made.

For about a week now there has been a firestorm going on in the Ethiopian adoption community.  Last week we began hearing rumors that the government agency in Ethiopia {MOWA} was going to significantly reduce the number of letters they write each day to approve adopting families.  Quite often when a family travels over to Ethiopia to attend their court hearing, they do not "pass court" while they are in Ethiopia because they are missing this letter from MOWA.  It is not because the family has done anything wrong; it is simply that MOWA is backed up and hasn't been able to get the letter written.  I don't think it was surprising to anyone to find out that MOWA is feeling overworked.

Last Friday an article was written about this situation that predicted that Ethiopian adoptions would be cut by 90%.  Currently, there are about 2,500 adoptions completed for Ethiopian children to the United States each year.  I won't link to the article because I do feel there are a lot of false claims and bias that does need to be perpetuated.  Of course, when this news went from just rumors to an article we all started getting nervous.  Then last Friday we also recieved an email from our agency asking us to start praying over this situation.  Although we were still unclear on exactly what was going on, we knew when our agency asked us to pray that something was serious.

So for the last week I have read every single thing I can about this situation.  There have been opinions both good and bad.  There have been outright lies and there has been truth.  I would be remiss if I did not say that there is some speculation that they are trying to slow down Ethiopian adoptions to curb corruption.  To pretend that there is no possibility for corruption in adoption would be ridiculous.  We do feel our particular agency {America World} has gone to great lengths to avoid corruption.

We, our entire agency and many others have covered these last few days in prayer.  Our Yahoo group has even covered the entire Ethiopian workday, hour by hour, in prayer {the Ethiopian work day is the middle of the night for us}.  

We know that there are meetings going on over in Ethiopia between the courts and MOWA to try to come to a solution with this.  I am very hopeful that the results of this will be more staffing for MOWA, a better procedure to help reduce corruption, and more help for the children of Ethiopia.  We understand that adoption is a long process and that every step must be taken to protect the children.  Our concern is that the longer an adoption takes, the longer children sit in orphanages instead of being part of a loving family.  In our training for this adoption we learned many scary statistics on how every month of institutionalized life effects children.  This slow down in writing approval letters would add significant length to Ethiopian adoptions, significant length.

Right now my husband and I feel very at peace about all of this.  A little nervous and worried...yes, but basically at peace.  We know, whatever the outcome, God has this.

I will admit that when the article came out on Friday I was a mess.  We mentally went through all of the "what ifs".  We even briefly discussed the possibility of changing to another country, but we truly feel our son is in Ethiopia.  It is possible that God has called us here at this time just so we would be positioned to adopt from another country later than we had in our timing, but for now we feel strongly that our son is in Ethiopia and we will wait this out.

I am at peace because over and over this week God has shown us his peace, his truth, and that we can rely on him.

Friday night I was a mess, on an adrenaline high and could not sleep.  I came out to the couch and started praying.  I can't even remember just what I prayed, but a peace came over me.  Phillipians 4:7 says And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  After feeling this peace come over me I was immediately able to sleep and I feel strongly that this is the peace I have been operating in over the past week.  Yes, at times anger and depression have tried to bully their way into my emotions, but overall there is peace.

On Sunday our pastor spoke on how we must 'Depend on God' by being committed, righteous, and alert.  In his sermon he used both Deuteronomy 6:5-9 and the scene of Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane asking God if there was any other way to take this cup from him.  Jesus prayed in Mark 13:46 "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.  Take this cup away from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will."  I think we really needed to hear that.  Not what we will {a quick adoption} but what He wills.  We must submit to his will at any cost.  So guess what exact same passages were in my daily Bible reading later in the week?  You guessed it, both of them.  It would seem, I needed yet another reminder to submit my will to Him.

I've also had several daily devotions this week that have spoke to this situation.  The devotions reminded me again that we need to and can depend on God.  I think this verse and this prayer from one of the devotions are going to need to be something I read and pray daily as we wait through this.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Lord, thank You for the power of Your words that give me courage to become who You've created me to be – to go to places You're calling me to go and climb spiritual heights that are out of my reach without Your help. Give me Your encouragement and help me encourage someone else today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

So, the sum of this post is...there is what appears to be bad news, we know God has it, we feel called, and we will wait.