Court Date!

     When I woke up the morning of July 16, I had a feeling that we were going to get a phone call with news of our MOJ signature.  I made sure John checked his phone every time we stopped our bikes for a break.  Sure enough, as we were halfway around Mackinac Island we found out we had gotten our signature.  What an amazing moment!  One step closer to the boys.  I did a little happy dance and a shout for joy and was pretty much perma-grinning for the rest of the day.  Check that off the list and move on to the next thing to wait for.  Next up on the list - the court date.  Thanks to a facebook group we are a part of, we knew the dates were coming fairly soon after getting signatures and have been praying fervently for a July date before the Bulgarian government slows way down for the month of August.  Well this morning I woke up and "knew" we were getting our court date.  We  usually hear from our agency around noon, so at 11:30 I asked John if he had his phone nearby.  He checked it and had missed a phone call.  Our agency had called with a court date!!  So we celebrate today one step closer again to the boys!  Unfortunately, the date is October 1, which means we will most likely travel in November.  The judge assigned our case will be on vacation in August and September. There is no changing or reassigning of cases once they are set.  We definitely do not like that it will be 6 months between trips to Bulgaria but rejoice knowing that we have a date, and our forever family will soon be united.  We spoke with our agency later in the day and are working to set up a Skype session with the boys.  The internet connection will be sketchy and there may be no audio, but if we can see their sweet faces, it will get us through until November.  I had a few hours of "Poor me, how long must we keep waiting?" and am choosing now to celebrate this next step in the journey.  Still sad for the two more months we are missing with them, but reminded that every good and perfect gift come from God, in His time.

What are we waiting for?

     I told a friend the other day, as I was recounting the success of our auction, that sometimes I am overwhelmed by God's favor.  That was and is still true.  But this thought keeps circling back to me that I should always be overwhlemed by God's favor.  I mean, really and truly overwhelmed!!  Not just when He shows up BIG (and I happen to notice) but in every moment, every breath, every thing.
     This week I was overwhelmed by the goodness of God's people in the crazy support we have received along our entire journey.  When all is said and done and we add up the garage sale, random (and some not so random)  donations and the auction we far exceeded our $3000 goal, allowing us to receive the matching grant from Brittany's Hope.  Amazing.  THANK YOU to all who donated and all who were bidding.  "May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord's face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).
     We are currently waiting for the Ministry of Justice to sign our paperwork so that we can get a court date.  We found out this week that our file is sitting on the desk of the person who does the signing.  Adoptions are not currently a proiority, however, and so there is a stack of files sitting and waiting.  There is a new government in Bulgaria, as of earlier this year, and so we are feeling the effects of the changeover.  There are also protests going on regarding this new government, which may or may not be affecting the slowness.  Families typically receive their signature 6 weeks after submission to MOJ, but we are entering our 8th week.  We know that families are getting signatures and court dates, but as August approaches our hope of bringing the boys home in late August or early September is fading.  August is the month the Bulgarian government takes "holiday" and not much (if anything) happens in the court system.  We have been told that the last court date of the month is July 29 and none planned for August that we know of.  So it is likely that we will not get a court date until September and travel *hopefully* in October.  Not what this mamas heart wants to hear.  It is possible (I think) to get a signature this or next week and be assigned the July 29 court date.  I don't really know and it is hard being so far away, unable to get many answers.  So we are praying like crazy that God will move yet another mountain for us and get us to court before the end of the month so that we can travel in August or early September.    There is much we do not know.  But this we do know:    "...because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians.  His presence within us is God's GUARANTEE that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit's seal upon us means that God has alrady purchased us and that he gurantees to bring us to himself.  THIS IS JUST ONE MORE REASON FOR US TO PRAISE OUR GLORIOUS GOD."  Ephesians 1:13-14