God is SO good!

God's mercy is so incredible. Even though He knows how little my faith is, He doesn't condemn me. He is so merciful and blesses me, anyway. Here is a perfect story of His love and compassion for the undeserving...

We were told that CCI, our adoption agency, had been approved to adopt children from Ethiopia since June 2007. From what I understood, everything was in order for CCI except for some ominous "document" that was holding the whole process up. I trusted that God would provide that document in His perfect timing, and that everything would work according to His time frame.

That being said, a few adoptive mommies who are adopting from CCI also, started to email me privately about some anxieties that they were having about pursuing their adoptions with CCI. They seemed to be worrying that CCI was not going to be able to follow through with their Ethiopian contract, and they considered changing agencies. As crafty as the enemy is, he started to put fear and worry in my heart through these interactions with these "mommies". I started doing research on the internet about Ethiopian adoptions. I found some alarming things that fueled my fear and doubt.

The US Dept of State had a statement on its website about Ethiopian adoptions. It says:
The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa confirms that there are several American adoption agencies known to have bona fide licenses to facilitate international adoptions from Ethiopia to the United States. The Department of State is aware that there are American and foreign adoption agencies and individuals, located in both countries, who claim they can assist with adoptions in Ethiopia. Few orphanages are licensed to care for children in need of a permanent family placement through international adoption.

Another prominent adoption website, Adoption.com says:
The Ethiopian government has authorized very few adoption agencies to operate in that country. If adoptions are attempted by outside means, the children will not be eligible to receive permission to exit the country.

Well, as you can imagine, after reading these things, I started to doubt the fact that CCI was every going to get its contract completed. I felt like it may be an impossibility to ever hold Sena and Simbona in my arms. I couldn't sleep. So, at 11:00 pm, I fired off an email to my case manager from CCI (Debbie), expressing my concerns and fears.

Debbie responded to me and told me that the only thing holding CCI up was a registration letter that was supposed to be filed with MOWA (the Ethiopian Ministry of Womens Affairs, who has jurisdiction over adoptions). She told me that correspondent in Ethiopia, Derje, had told her that he had spoken to the president of Ethiopia and tried to get the ball rolling on this letter. Debbie said that there was nothing more she could do, short of moving to Ethiopia and getting hired at MOWA herself, and that we should be fervent in PRAYER. Both she and I enlisted a lot of people to pray for this issue.

That night before bed, I prayed and prayed. I mainly prayed for forgiveness for my lack of faith and trust. I asked God to calm my fears and anxiety about not ever seeing Simbona and Sena. I asked for His forgiveness for taking this issue into my own hands and for not leaving it in His.

Two days later, I got a call from Debbie. CCI recieved the registration letter! WHAT A MERCIFUL GOD! He knows me well enough to know that I would stew about this every day until it got resolved. He knew that I needed to see this miracle so that my faith in Him would grow. He knows how much we want these babies to come home to us. He is merciful and compassionate on me, by granting that the letter be finalized only two days after I started to feel anxiety over the issue.

Now, CCI is OFFICIALLY listed as an agency licensed to provide adoptions from Ethiopia. One step closer to bringing the babies home! Thanks to my God!