Meet Gabrielle (Selam) Kidd!!!

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WE LEAVE JUNE 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our case was approved by the judge today, but still not officially closed. That should happen on Monday. From the news of court, AWAA has confirmed our travel for June 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can not post pictures until Monday, we still need to get through then; however we are celebrating that we are definatley going!!!!!

WHEW~

We are on for Friday

We did not pass on Monday. All our paperwork was there, the MOWA document was even there; however the person who looked at it did not see the orphanage papers, which were there last week and said come back Friday! Can you believe this???? So, Friday we go.

And waiting.......

No e-mail this morning. Still waiting for news. We are praying for God to continue to strengthen us, for His help in this attack we feel, and for the Faith and Hope that I know only He can give us.

Still waiting......

Well, Our 4th shot at court was today. Still have not heard wether we passed or not. Communication has been a nightmare from Ethiopia, so we are still hopeful that we will wake up to a wonderful e-mail. Check back soon!

We did not pass

We did not pass court today. The paper from MOWA was still not there. We will be going back next week for the 4th shot. PLEASE continue to pray for us, this is so painful.

Gabrielle's Nursery

I wanted to post a HAPPY! This room makes me so happy. I finally finished the nursery. YEAH! I need to sew the bows onto the crib bumper yet and put some frames and things on the walls, but mostly done. I LOVE doing nurseries, it makes me happy to know this is the same crib used for all 3 of my kids, the same rocker/glider (this is the 3rd time I recovered it with all new fabric). Those big purchases for your first really do pay off as you use them over and over for each child and it becomes more sentimental each time I pull it out. I lined the curtains with a thermal blackout lining, so when they are lowered no light enters the room. I did this is my older daughters room and it worked so well. Thanks for looking!

No court again today

Hi family,
Well, we did not get good news this morning. The
needed papers from MOWA did not show up this morning
at court, so Girmachew was told to come back tomorrow.
:( Thank you so much for all your prayers and
fasting. IT means so much to us to know that we have
such a strong team behind us.

I am going to be really honest and let you all know I
had a REALLY hard weekend. I sort of lost it Friday
night. There have been some other issues that came up
last week regarding our travel dates and flights being
completely booked up. Pete and I booked tickets on
our own 3 weeks ago, because we saw that things were
totally filling up and did not want to be stuck
waiting 3-4 extra weeks because there were no airlines
tickets. Without court mistakes or delays it was
plenty of time (also our tickets are transferrable, so
we could move them if needed); however we were then
being told if the rest of the group couldn't get
tickets we couldn't go anyway. I panicked and
realized that my controlling our NOT going into June
was becoming a reality. Not only would we more likely
look at June, the travel is booked well into June. I
am not saying it could not happen that we would find a
way to get there before, or AWAA would allow us to go
earlier, we will have to see how this plays out. I
just broke down completely. What I have learned and
come to in the end is freedom. I have given it up to
Him. I have made all the phone calls and e-mails I
can, even booking our own tickets 3 weeks ago when we
realized the flights were filling up. Really I have
made every effort to see that the right things are
being done and done correctly; however these things
are out of my control. I realize that God is so much
bigger than all of these things, and He can pave the
way to get us there, not me and not America World. I
need to trust HIM. I am still glad we took all the
steps we have and felt He was directing us to do that;
however now I need to let Him work out the rest. I
also panicked thinking I never wanted to be another
Oct. 19th situation, and how much older Gabrielle is
getting, time missing out with her, etc. This is all
fear and discouragement and NOT from Him, but from the
enemy. Now I feel very free knowing that for whatever
reason God needs to do a little more work in Pete and
I AND Gabrielle needs to be there a little longer.
Pete told me once in my despair of wanting Gabrielle
home, that this is the only time she will ever live in
Ethiopia, that this is her culture and where she is
from. She will be with us forever and will visit ET
one day, but that what she is gaining from seeing
Ethiopian people every day and the nannies caring for
her and talking to her in Amharic, etc. is making her
who she was supposed to be. It has been so hard to
understand why He would want her there any longer than
I think she should be.....but I am now free of this
too. I will get her when the time is right and me
beating myself up emotionally and spiritually won't
help matters. I thank Him today for the lessons I am
learning and for my friends and support here, and for
the knowledge that in the end, He will give me what I
have asked for. In this process I have grown closer
than ever to God and to my husband and I say, bring on
the rain, Lord- BRING IT ON! I am ready and willing
and nothing is going to break me down while He is
right here with me.

An explanation and apology go a long way.

Pretty wild how I was feeling last night. I was angry, confused and frustrated. I couldn't make sense out of what had happened with our court date and was very worried about our new one coming up. When things don't make sense and we suspect mistakes, our confidence starts to diminish. I went to bed last night with the Spirit telling me there was a mistake and I needed to forgive and move on. I was asking God to take away my anger and my hurt and to restore my faith. When I got up this morning, after sleeping a full night for the first time a 2 weeks, I felt so refreshed. Everything seems so much easier to deal with on a good nights sleep. I had sent an e-mail to Duni last night sharing my feelings and concerns. When I checked e-mail this morning, there was a response from her. Not just any response but an apology for the mistake. There was indeed an error for our court date and it was for May 12th, yesterday was a holiday where the courts were closed and would not have held court cases. I so appreciate that mistakes can happen, and when people face it head on, it takes the sting away. I really appreciate Duni and all she is doing. I still feel disappointed that we have a weeks delay, but also was assured we will travel soon after. Thank you God for restoring my mind and heart and for those who have the compassion to apology and recognize errors when they happen.

No Court Today

We did not get good news today about our court appointment. This was the e-mail from our coordinator. I usually don't just post the e-mails, but I don't have many good thoughts right now, I will share later.

Dear Families-

I am disappointed to have to be sending this news, but due to two federal holidays falling in the same week, your new court date will be May 12th. Officials at court were not able to process anyone’s case. We will do everything on our part to have you travel as quickly as possible after this court date.

Blessings,

Duni Zenaye
Africa Program Director

Court- Butterflies in my tummy :)

I really do have butterflies in my stomach! We were given today as our court date, and when asked about it being a Sunday, our coordinator explained that with the time change, etc. it really happens today and we will hear the news tomorrow (Monday). I keep doing the math in my head and I still don't quite understand when the court appt. would be, but I just keep stopping today and praying. I know I only need to ask God once and He hears me, I think the other 400 times must be for me. God-willing you can visit here tomorrow and see the sweet pictures of our baby girl. Pray for us tonight and we will be here tomorrow with updates and pictures as soon as we hear!!!