Thank you to everyone for your emails, prayers, calls,texts, etc. We have felt supported and well loved. We got home last night after TOO MANY hours of traveling and it was great to be back as a family of 4 however we still don't feel complete yet since we really are a family of 5!
We have had several conversations with our agency and are feeling more hopeful since the last time I posted. From what we understand, we have been assigned another court date for next Friday (June 1). Meanwhile, the ad has gone or is about to go into the public paper. It is technically supposed to run for 2 weeks. So, there are 2 scenarios....
1) Our case goes to court next Friday and the judge doesn't pass us because it hasn't been 2 weeks. Another court date will be assigned... perhaps the next week
2)The judge decides to pass us because the ad has been placed and they can put a "check" by that item on the list.
Of course we hope for #2 but at least if we have to wait for the ad to run for 2 weeks, that timeframe is better than we originally feared.
Some of you have asked if this makes us fearful of his mother being found. Actually it does not. The decision for the ad to be run is purely a formality. They had investigated his case thoroughly by interviewing the police in Mekele and other member of the community and there is a good bit of supporting evidence. We wish we knew more about his mom but unfortunately we do not.
So, we loosely hang on to the hope that we will pass court in the next 1-2 weeks. Someone from the in country staff will appear on our behalf so we do not have to return to Ethiopia for our court date.
What happens once we pass court?
The US embassy paperwork begins . The average time it takes to prepare that paperwork is 3-4 weeks. Once it is completed, it is submitted to embassy. Then, the embassy reviews it. Sometimes, they clear you within 24 hours and you can come pick up your child as soon as you can get a flight to ET. Sometimes the embassy requests more information and there can be a delay in being cleared.
SO..... we wait, we pray and we ask God to give us a peace during this waiting period. We also are asking God to keep something about us sealed in Jeremiah's little mind. We had an amazing visit with him each time we saw him and we hope when we return, there is something he remembers about us.
thankfully we know we have left him in good hands. He seems very happy with his friends. The nannies love those children well and there will be other families in and out of the transition home over the next month visiting and playing with the kids.
We have so much to process about what we have seen in Ethiopia. To come back to a beautiful place like Nashville with green grass and too many luxuries to list, we are humbled by how richly we are blessed. We are so thankful to have had a safe trip, little to no health issues, no lost luggage, wonderful families to travel with, and a glimpse into another part of this world God created and filled with His people. We appreciate you all praying for us while we were gone and know that you all will continue to join us as we pray Jeremiah home!
Jeremiah 17:7-8 “ But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
