He Answered Our Prayer: Court Date by Christmas!

As you know, we have been praying since November 9 (our Referral day) that both our paperwork would be submitted AND our Court Date assigned by Christmas.

Two weeks ago we got an update from our agency which made this Christmas wish look like a long shot, but we truly felt God beckon us to continue praying towards this end.

Just two days after that we got the shocking and thrilling news that our documents had been submitted to court! We were amazed.

We kept praying for our Court Date to be assigned by Christmas, knowing our agency's office was closed on Christmas Eve. Yesterday came and went. We were doing alright. So many things to be thankful for. In the spirit of gratitude, Josh and I invited my family to have a crepe and coffee breakfast at French Press this morning before everyone headed off to complete their last minute Christmas errands. As soon as we brought it up my mom and sister were suspicious that we secretly had our court date. Nope.

This morning I came downstairs to let the dogs out before jumping in the shower and heading to breakfast. I checked my text messages, then saw I had a couple of emails. I literally did a double take when I saw the words, "Court Date!" in the subject line of the newest email (sent at 8:30 am this morning!).

I ran up the stairs to our room, yelling Josh's name the whole way. Out of breath and overwhelmed I blurted out the good news. We got our court date by Christmas! Unbelievable! Thank you, Jesus.

After a few seconds it occurred to me to actually read the email. Our court date is Monday, February 21, 2011! This is the day we legally, officially become Mercy's mom and dad! I was both pumped and surprised. We finally have a solid date of when our little Mercy becomes a Mann, but the date is so far away. I'm still wrapping my heart and mind around that part. We are rejoicing for sure, but it wouldn't be honest for me to pretend that the date didn't surprise me. Our agency said court dates are usually scheduled 6-8 weeks out and ours is right at the 8 week mark. We sincerely and whole heartedly praise God for this Christmas gift! It's all we wanted this year.

We were so excited to meet my family for breakfast with this amazing news to share! We quickly made a little calendar with our court date on it rolled it up like a scroll for them to open. We didn't say anything. We just watched them suddenly get it. They were pumped!! My sister figured it out first and I can proudly share that her first words were, "Liar!!!", thinking we'd been keeping this a secret since she asked yesterday. Hahaha.

So the count down is on folks! As I type this Josh is sanding our $25 Goodwill dresser so we can make it into something beautiful for Mercy's room! We have a lot to do in the next 8 weeks! Most likely we a will fly out of here on Valentine's Day (my favorite holiday) to go meet our baby girl!!

First Baby Shower Highlights!

Nothing like a full house on a cold winter's day to celebrate Baby Mercy with so many dear friends!

Pure joy! I'd been dreaming and wishing and hoping for this day for so long! A baby shower for OUR baby! God is good.

My mom is the best and I hope I can make her proud as I mother Mercy!

My sister hosted the shower for me. She took care of every single detail. It was perfect. She means so much to me. (Mercy's photos and full name were on the TV behind us so I needed to blur it out, for now!)

Mercy got majorly hooked-up with some awesome clothes, books, toys and bath time goodies!

I wondered if this little North Face number came in my size! Thanks to our adoption buddies Erik and Jeanne-Ann for this cute gift! Their daughter Kynzi is in 6th grade (and in my small group) and I was at her baby shower 11 years ago! Maybe Mercy will attend a baby shower when it's Kynzi's turn to be a mom?! WOW! I love these long friendships.

And then the tears came. My best friend Paula made me a surprise video from Korea to affirm and uplift me. I was in shock! What a meaningful gift. I missed her very, very much that day.

Then, BOOM! More tears because round two was a video from my best friend, Jocelyn, who live in Jordan. She is pregnant with her first baby, a son, due in February. I wish we could walk this road to motherhood on a daily basis. She is such a sweet, kind, wise friend. I missed her and all of my far away friends that day. These videos are gold.

Another adoptive momma! Becca (yes, we have the same name....and her husband's name is Josh, too!). She and I walked the ins and out of the grueling and fulfilling adoption journey. She has a son on the way from Rwanda. Her friendship is a total godsend. I love her!

Well my goal was to get a photo at the beginning of the shower with everyone who attended, but I totally spaced it. So this is a shot of many of my friends (mostly friends I serve with in ministry at the church) who showered our family with words of affirmation and lovely, generous gifts. Their support, care and encouragement along the way has been and continues to be priceless. We are blessed beyond measure to have such incredible people in our lives.

P.S. Our paperwork has been submitted to court! Now we continue to pray with faith that our court date is assigned by Christmas!!! I'll keep you posted!

lunch break updates

On Sunday afternoon my amazing sister threw us a beautiful, meaningful baby shower; inviting many of my dearest friends to join in the celebration with kind words and generous gifts. It was my first ever baby shower and it far exceeded my hopes and dreams. I was deeply honored and Mercy was absolutely celebrated. Growing up I was one of those girls who looked forward to and day-dreamed about being a mom even more than my wedding day. I've got some fun pictures of the shower that I will have to post soon. I realized after it was all done that we had Mercy's photo up in the background all afternoon, so many of the pictures need to be edited to protect her cute little face.

Speaking of her cute little face, we got our November update this week, which included a medical report and two amazing photos. Seriously, she is beautiful. Her big eyes, her button nose, her delicate lips, her attentiveness and alertness, her smooth chocolate skin, her sweet little hands, her playful smile and wild hair...it melts us. Mercy Bear is thriving. She is growing and gaining weight and developing well. We love to look at her picture, kiss it and we or may not have placed her picture in the stroller last night as we wheeled it around the living room. Our hearts' are bursting with love for our first-born baby girl.

It has been exactly one month since we got The Call that we had a three month old daughter. This month has actually flown by as we have enjoyed sharing our good news with friends and family, building a table, dreaming up her nursery, celebrating Thanksgiving, continuing to pursue health and wholeness as individuals and cherishing our marriage.

At the one month mark we had hoped to receive word that all of our paperwork had been successfully submitted to court. In recent months, this has been both possible and probable. Unfortunately time lines seem to be expanding these days. We once had hopes of a late January travel date, then we heard February was more realistic and now it seems mid-late March is most likely. CRUSHING BLOW. While we aren't sure if this is more indicative of our agency specifically or the Ethiopian adoption process in general, it is incredibly heart-breaking and confusing.

However, since nothing is set in stone yet we are taking that to mean everything is still up for grabs.Therefore we are calling upon all praying people, far and wide, to join us in asking for God's favor in this process; that he would expedite every aspect (from our documents, to our lawyer in Ethiopia, to the Ministry of Women's Affairs, to government officials and judges) and allow us to travel in February. We would love for you to join us in prayer. We are grateful for your support and investment in our journey to becoming a family.

Today we are specifically praying that our paperwork is submitted AND our court date is assigned by Christmas. We know this is totally possible (For some of you, the verse running through your head right now is Luke 1:37, "For nothing is impossible with God."). Last night my friend Paula prayed these Biblical words over us all the way from Korea. They were just what I needed.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family on heaven and earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or even imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen!"