Living at Cedar Point

Each time that we reach a milestone, a milestone that one time seemed so far away nonetheless, we have a quick celebratory moment. Then, we come back to reality and realize that we now have another milestone that we are waiting for...and even though the waiting times shorten the farther into the process we get, those shorter wait times cause the most pain!

Let's back up. After our Thanksgiving visit to Ethiopia where we first met Jeremiah and had our court visit, we came home in a daze. We were exhausted, but energized...sad to leave, but happy to know that we were much closer to getting Jeremiah...anxious to complete the final step, but relaxed knowing that God was and has always been in control. The next step in the process once we returned home from Ethiopia was getting Jeremiah's passport and birth certificate and then submitting our case to the U.S. Embassy. From there, the Embassy issues a Visa after they review the paperwork to determine if everything is in order. Our case was submitted to the U.S. Embassy on December 20th ~ 25 days from the last time we saw Jeremiah.

After the first of the year, we learned that the Embassy required a little more information about our case and that they would receive the information on January 19th. So, a few more weeks of waiting was on our agenda. Our anticipation built as we prayed we would receive notification that our case was approved when we woke up this morning...and to our amazement, we did indeed have an email from the U.S. Embassy that our case was approved!

Once again, we were quick to celebrate this huge milestone! In the email, the Embassy requested that we submit three dates for an appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia. They would then check their schedule and let us know when our appointment would be so we could schedule our travel and BRING JEREMIAH HOME! Well, we didn't waste any time and submitted three dates by 7:00 a.m. this morning. Since that was only 3:00 p.m. Ethiopian time, we were hopeful that we would have a response by late this morning. Two of the dates that we submitted were for next week and one was for the week of January 30th...so, in our minds, we were quickly forming a plan of attack to be ready to leave and bring Jeremiah home. The notification that we were hoping for never came so our response expectation was pushed out to tomorrow morning. Then, this afternoon we found out that tomorrow is Epiphany day in Ethiopia...which means that all government offices (including the U.S. Embassy) will be closed. UGHHH!! Now, the earliest we will hear anything will be Monday.

Our waiting ~ started out as years as we worked on our dossier and waited for a referral...then went to months as we waited for a court date and Embassy approval...and is now down to days as we wait for an Embassy appointment.

Even though we are only waiting until Monday to learn of the date that we will be reunited with Jeremiah, it seems like an eternity. It has been 55 days since we have held him - 55 days since we have seen his smile - 55 days since we have gazed into his eyes. But soon...and, yes, very soon, we will be bringing him home forever.

If you are not familiar with the amusement park Cedar Point...it is an amusement park made up mostly of roller coasters. Some are small and short in length; some have loops and tunnels; some are extremely fast; but they are all rollercoasters! Well, we pretty much feel that we have been living at Cedar Point over the past couple of years going from rollercoaster to rollercoaster. And right now, we are all in ~ heading down the steepest hill, hands high in the air, stomach in our throats, with huge smiles made of fear!!! Monday's going to come and we will soon learn of our date with the Embassy and make our travel plans. This is so hard...but the prize at the end is so worth the wait! Thank you so much for your continued prayers. We can't wait for you to meet our son. God bless.