We're approved to join CHI!

Wow, the past 36 hours have been a mix of emotions for us, me in particularly!

Yesterday morning our application to CHI arrive at their office (thanks to delivery confirmation!) and there Justin and I began to think, "I wonder when we'll hear from them?" What we were waiting to hear was that we were accepted into the ET program based on a preliminary application. From my conversation with Sharon on Friday last week, I knew it would take 3 days to hear back from them. So we prayed. And trusted. And left it at that.

Yesterday evening I got a phone call from Justin while hanging out with some girlfriends. He said that the Ethiopian government had passed a law that day that now a) requires two trips to ET, where parents must be present at the court date for their child before the adoption is finalized in ET, and b) all children will be required further investigations to prove that they are indeed rightfully placed as orphans. Wow. Let that sink in a bit and all of a sudden we are flooded with questions. (And we've not even been accepted into any agency's program yet!) Looking back I can already see that both Justin and I are beginning to attach ourselves to Ethiopia, adoption, and our future little guy by the way we responded to the news.

Me: "do you think we should still move forward?"

Justin: "yea, of course. We just need to find out the details".

Me: "so this doesn't mean we're not going to pursue our adoption in Ethiopia, right?"

Justin: "No, not at all. It just means we'll have to take two trips, save up more money, and find out what it means as far as passing court the first time, how long each trip is, you know."

Me: "ok, good. because I'm not interested in stopping at all."

Justin: "me either."

And so there it was. Flexibility 101 Class has begun....

All night I tossed and turned, couldn't stop thinking about what this might mean, and trying to rationalize in my mind that although I don't see the whole picture as God does, I just felt disappointment begin to sink in. I woke up this morning and shared my insecurities with Justin before he headed off to GE. He too is unsure, has questions, and isn't certain what will become of it. I guess for him it's the details, the financial aspect of flying twice, as well as getting enough time off too. For me, I instantly think: wait time. Justin noticed that immediately and mentioned that this probably means we won't hear back from CHI for a bit longer since this is pretty big news that they'll have to share with families, not to mention process all the questions. Both of us agreed that Ethiopia is doing the right thing. It feels good to talk to him and find out what's going through one another's mind. It really put me at ease to know that my husband, the one leading us with such strength and responsibility, would remind me that there's One much greater than us leading us. I emailed our family and updated them. By that time I had allowed peace to start peering into my mind. Then I got a message from my father in law, reminding us of truth:

"His name is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord send peace" (Judges 6:24)

"His name is Jehovah Jireh:, the Lord will provide;” (Genesis 22:14)

Ahhhhhhhhhh yes. That is the noise my spirit made.......and I started to relax.

This afternoon I was so glad to get to talk to my friend Allyson. She is someone I can connect with and I love how she can relate so well to me in this new season our our lives. Allyson and her husband Eric adopted their son Sammy from ET a little over a year ago he has become our tangible link to ET. You can't help but melt when you're around him! Adding to that, Eric and Allyson are in the process of adopting their second son from ET and it is wonderful to have someone in our shoes along the way. We talked for a while and once I hung up the phone I was more confident and glad that this new rule isn't going to stop us from meeting our future little boy one bit! In fact, we were able to see how beneficial this will be and the smile came back upon my face. I came inside and read an email from my best friend saying that she's been praying for me since this morning. ;) I smile and realize that the Lord is near and He's communicating to my soul!

Riiiinnnngggg, riiiiiinnngggg, riiiinnnnnggggg. I look at the number on my cell phone, don't recognize it, but decide to answer it anyway.

"Hi this is Sharon Turner from Children's Hope International, is this Kati?"

"yes... it is" :)

"I wanted to call and let you know that we received your application yesterday and I have approved you and your husband to join our Children's Hope family. But I wanted to make sure you heard the news and that you guys still want to continue with your adoption process?"

"Yes! Yes! We heard the news, and yes we are still on track for this adoption! We're not letting this change our minds."

"Great, because this is tossing you right into the reality of adoption right from the beginning!"

Sharon and I spoke for a brief time about ET and then got the details in line for the mailings we'll receive this coming week and when we'll touch base next. She agreed to take Justin and I on and will be playing the role as our Adoption Coordinator through CHI. After the conversation she and I had last week, I glad she's helping us. Quickly after hanging up the phone I called Justin and shared the good news with him. It wasn't that we were worried that we might not be accepted, but hearing it has solidified it. We are so excited!

People say that pregnancy has a lot of hormonal shifts, mood swings, etc. I believe them, I see it, I work with it.  But I would like to introduce them to adoption hormones. And they happen to last a bit longer than 9 months. Are you ready?! WE ARE!!!