Day 4- COURT

Day 4- COURT
Psalm 127 “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for he gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior; So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

This was the day our “house” would grow if it was God’s will. It was the day we have looked forward to for 13 months- the day Chernet, Mulu and Ruby would become Rowes. Needless to say, we were full of emotion as we got up early and prepared for the day. The plan was to have breakfast, shop for berbere (an Ethiopian spice some friends of ours asked us to pick up), have lunch, and then go to the courthouse by 1:00.

All 8 of us excitedly climbed into the van and headed out, hopeful to be back at the transition house with our kids by the end of the day. The hunt for berbere turned into a wild goose chase but it did keep us busy and entertained as we waited for our court appearance. At about 10:30, Woudeneh’s wife, Betey, (our guide that day) got a call from him and was instructed to bring us to the courthouse immediately. Apparently things were moving faster than planned and it was our turn.

We were only a few minutes away and didn’t have enough time to get more nervous about the monumental thing that was about to take place. The next hour we would be moved in and out of rooms in a surreal daze that would build into an explotion of emotion as we later processed it all. There really is no way to describe the thoughts and feelings we experienced on this day – the day our children became ours. We will forever be grateful for each God ordained moment that is etched in our memories.

We walked into a large room with chairs lining the four walls. There were available seats scattered around with some excited adoptive parents standing in the middle of the room. Filling the chairs were not only adoptive parents but birth parents as well. Before being called into the room where the judge was ruling, I spotted our kids’ birthfather. It was unmistakable. So much so that Tim immediately agreed. His resemblance to Mulu was striking, such a handsome man, short like Chernet too. I wondered if, in the moment that time seemed to stop and we made eye-contact, if he knew we were the ones. Could have been he was just thinking, “why is she staring at me!” Hopefully not. He was sitting next to our friends, the Sweeneys. He actually stood and offered Ryan his chair but sat back down next to Lesley when Ryan insisted. His identity was confirmed when the door opened and the clerk called “Kingdom Vision International” and he stood and followed Woudeneh in with two other birth mothers.

In only a few minutes, the door reopened and they walked back to their seats and we were called in by name with two other couples who had children at the other KVI orphanage in Nazaret (our new friends). We sat and waited for the questions. The judge asked us which agency we were working with and if they had prepared us to parent these children. She asked us if we had children and if they were prepared for this life change. Tim’s favorite question was whether or not we understood that this was irrevocable. All three couples answered with a resounding “YES”. She then said something about waiting for paperwork and our agency that afternoon. Woudeneh stood and motioned us to the door. All 6 of us exited with puzzled looks, which of course concerned the other people waiting in the room. “What happened in there?” we all wondered and asked.”What piece of paperwork is missing?” Before we could question Woudneh, he called the two other couples in our group into the room. A few moments later, they returned and we followed them back down the hall to exit the building. When we finally had the opportunity to ask Woudeneh if we passed, he smiled and said, “What do you mean? Of course you did!” He explained how the paper processing is a formality and the judge must have forgotten to say what she usually does, “Congratulations!” Apparently a meeting had been scheduled for her at the last minute for that afternoon and she was trying to clear her calendar by combining families that morning and quickly work through court proceedings. Our tears of joy came there in the stairwell as we were ushered back to the van across the street. Here we would wait to meet with the birth parents if they agreed.

Two of the families in our group met with their chidren’s birth parents at a restaurant just next to the courthouse. When they were finished, they loaded back into the van with us and we were told our meetings would take place at the orphanage. When we entered the gate of the orphanage, we immediately saw him sitting on the curb waiting for us. The next 30 minutes was priceless as we were able to (through a translator) thank him for the opportunity to love and care for his children. We gave him a photo album of the pictures we had of the children plus pictures of their new home, family and friends in Kentucky. We were able to take pictures and even videotape him giving a blessing over the kids. The most touching part was when the sincere love for his wife was clearly seen through tears as he described what happened to her. We initially assumed it was a sickness brought on by the drought in the area they lived but discovered this wasn’t the case at all. She actually died unexpectedly at 9 months pregnant with their 4th child. We embraced and said our goodbyes before getting back into the van that was becoming our emotional processing chamber.

Still reeling from the events of the morning, we were taken to a nice hotel for lunch. A few hours later we made it back to the transition house where some of our kids were already settling in and playing. We loved on them, played with them, took pictures with them, and again had to say goodbye before going to another restaurant- this time a traditional Ethiopian restaurant where we could experience more of the culture. It sounds like a great way to end an amazing day but honestly all we wanted was to be with the kids and show them how God had chosen us as their new family.