We were submitted to Embassy

We are praising the Lord today...our case was finally submitted to the US Embassy!!! So you are probably wondering when we can bring her home (we are too). We have been told by our agency that in the next 2 weeks we should here from the Embassy via email telling us that they have received our case and it is being reviewed. Once they have reviewed our case they will write us to tell us one of the following things:

• We clear immediately and can come pick her up.
• They need more information and will conduct interviews and investigate our case
• They determine our case is "not clearly approvable"and then forward our case to the USCIS office in Nairobi, Kenya for further review.

Once it is clear to the Embassy or USCIS that they have enough information they will issue her US visa and we will be able to bring Ada home. The time frame could be anywhere from 2 weeks to several months.
We are so thankful that we have made it to this point in the process to bring her home. I went to an adoption retreat over the weekend and one of the speakers talked about waiting. It was interesting to hear that the spanish word esperar not only means "to wait" but it means "to hope for" and "to expect". I found that so comforting and it gave me a new excitement about "the waiting". Yes every moment of her life that we are missing while she is in Ethiopia makes us sad but there is so much hope. I was reading my bible and looking for scripture on hope. "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength" Isaiah 40:31 So what does it mean to hope in the Lord? To hope means having trust and patience. Trust involves confidence in God's power to deliver and faith that he will keep his promises. Hoping in the Lord also implies the patience to wait for God's promises since God works according to his own timing. In a few months we are going to have our precious baby girl home with us and there is so much HOPE in that!!!!