He is Mighty to Save - Embassy Appt

Well we got all the kids to sleep by 9:20 pm last night and they slept until 4:30 am this morning and stayed in bed until 6:30, so we will definitely claim that as victory! We've had power today, so we have been able to read all of your comments. The tears just pour as we read them. They are water to our soul!

This morning was a little rough. We were at the hotel until noon, so we had play time with the kids for five and a half hours in a hotel. There was lots of hitting, running away, crying, calling each other "ca-ca" (poop). And Lydia is really grieving today. She is not happy with me at all. I had her in the sling and she cried and cried. The hotel staff actually called our room to see if they could hire a babysitter to help us. Very humbling!

Then we went for our Embassy appointment. This is where you get the visa approval to bring the kids home. We waited an hour and a half and then they called us up. We heard the staff person call a supervisor over and they had a conversation about whether our I600a was expired. It's good until May 2010, so maybe our updated one never really made it. I was mouthing the words "pray" to Kevin. And then they seemed to be ok with it.

THEN they asked us about the kids birth parents. When they found out they were both still alive it became a BIG problem, because they evidently stopped doing adoptions when both birth parents are alive months ago. One needs to be deceased or they both need to be HIV+. We were freaking out a little, as he kept asking questions and saying he couldn't approve it. Finally, he told Robel to tell Duni they cannot do this anymore and he stamped our paper and said congratulations. We went down the stairs where the Redding family and Corinne and Hollie were waiting and I just lost it. These children truly, truly should not be coming home except by the grace and plan of God. I feel so inadequate to be a part of this plan and so humbled that he chose us. I cannot wait to see the plans He has for these kids, because I know he did not rescue them from such strongholds down to the last piece of paper we needed without having BIG plans for them.

Our next two days are "free" days, as we are now just waiting for the kids passports. We will get these on Friday and fly out Friday night. Our goal is to have less tears each day (both the kids and us!) We are counting down the hours!!