One Step Closer to Knowing

Hey, How are you? We're fine, just a bit tense and busy and not hanging out here lately. I've been regretful about having no news to report. At a certain point you start feeling like a liar - telling everyone it is so soon and then - a while of nothing much to say. At this point it might be wise to fill you in on what happens after we hear that our agency has found a baby boy who needs a family as much as we need him:

After we receive THE CALL from our agency they will email us a description of the boy they have available to us and his medical history and we will have a chance to review this information and accept or decline the referral. When we accept a referral, our agency will arrange for a court date for us in Ethiopia. This is not a date that we will be present at - we have given our agency power to act on our behalf to legalize our adoption in Ethiopia. Our agency will be making all necessary arrangements to organize documents needed for this critical day in court. Right now it appears that our court date will take place around 3 months after we receive a referral.

If at our first court appointment all of our paperwork satisfies the judge, our adoption will be legalized and our boy will become a Bullington. We will travel to pick him up a few weeks later.

And then he will be home.

Sounds simple, right? According to our agency around 30% of families do not "pass court" the first time. This means additional documentation has to be provided and your case may be delayed by weeks or months.

And courts are closed during August and October. So if we are delayed by much we will have an additional wait time tacked on. I try very hard not to think about this, but it is out there on the horizon like a dark cloud that may come this way or may not. So I feel compelled to mention it so you can see what I see.

This morning I woke up gripped by the fear of that scenario.

But overwhelmingly right now the feeling is of hope. The Rogers family, whose paperwork travelled to Ethiopia in the very same package as ours got referred an infant girl yesterday! They had requested either a boy or a girl baby, so that means we are very close to the front of the line.

I hope to have more to tell any day now. . . .

Our Funny Valentine

Next year the heart will have to be bigger!

"Love is a good thing. It'll fall like rain on your parade, laugh at the plans that you tried to make, it'll wear you down till your heart just breaks and it's a good thing."
Andrew Peterson - Love is a Good Thing - Resurrection Letters vol. II

No News for Us. . .

Is not no news for anyone! Our agency has arranged a few forever families this week. And we are everyday closer.

When we were in the car (of course) today listening to Sara Groves sing the lyrics "live in peace" Faith asked me if she meant real peace or pretend peace. I finally figured out she thought the word was "peas."

We are living in peas here, folks.

Monday, Monday

These past few weeks the days have seemed particularly long. I've been dragging Faith around more than usual to avoid sitting at the house where the wait by the phone seems too hard. Thus, we've had the chance to hear a lot of radio music.

I've been off of Christian radio since they started playing Nathalie Grant's Our Hope Endures every other minute. My apologies if this is your favorite - it is a powerful song but so heavy and intense to hear ALL THE TIME. So I've taken refuge on our fifties station. Where the heartache is heartfelt but usually related to high school break-ups. Little did I know that waiting-mom-ears can make everything about the baby. "Come and Go with Me" - I need you, darling, so come go with me - made me cry. "Sweet Dream Baby" - How long must I wait? - made me miss him even more. And today. Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day.

No news yet.

While we wait - a few funny moments

Yesterday Faith and her friend Caroline, 2, were discussing the babies about to join their families. Caroline's mother is due to have a baby brother or sister for Caroline in March. Faith asked Caroline, "What color is it going to be?"

"I don't know," said Caroline. She scrunched up her nose a bit, thought for a moment, and said, "Pink?"

One of Faith's favorite Bible stories is about Jesus healing a blind man named Bartimaeus.

Last night at dinner I was extolling the virtues of broccoli, a food that is not her favorite, saying, "I know you don't like broccoli, Faith, but sometimes we eat things we don't like because they are so good for us. Broccoli helps our eyes and our.."

Faith broke in with "Maybe Bartimaeus didn't eat enough broccoli."