Submitted to Embassy!

This morning, we got the news we have waited 3 months to hear!

"Congratulations, your embassy paperwork was submitted today!"

My heart is just overwhelmed with emotion. God has been so sweet towards us in this wait. He's listened to our cries, questions, and pleading with such tenderness and compassion. He encouraged us to be persistent in prayer and to grow in our trust. He's comforted and assured us. He's also prepared us for every step of this journey. I can't express enough that when God calls you to walk a road you've never traveled before, He truly does equip you for the journey- in EVERY way. Don't ever let excuses stop you from seeing the glory of God. When you bring nothing to the table and recognize you have nothing to offer, that is the perfect time for HIM to be glorified. We have certainly seen Him do just that. I am so thankful for His patience with us both before we began this journey and as we've walked it with Him. In my deepest days of discouragement He very clearly sent me to Exodus, and it was perfect timing. As always! Yesterday, He gave me peace.

"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today...The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:13-14.

This morning, I awoke to read chapters 15 and 16.
Chapter 15 is a song of praise. It was like the Lord was telling me to get my celebration shoes on. Here's just a few of the words there.... "I will sing to the Lord. He has won a glorious victory. The Lord is my strength and my song. He is my Savior. This is my God, and I will praise Him....Then the prophet Miriam took a tambourine in her hand. All the women, dancing with tambourines, followed her. Miriam sang to them: 'Sing to the Lord. He has won a glorious victory.'"

Chapter 16 was about the Israelites forgetting God's goodness. How much are we the same? God gave them manna and quail for each day with detailed instructions that they could only gather for that day. Only on Saturday could they gather for the following day, so they could enjoy rest on the Sabbath. Still some did not follow and tried to store up the food. I would guess the maggots and smell was probably quite the object lesson. Ew! I was thinking about the "bread from heaven" that has been given to me. There's truly nothing that compares to the Word of God speaking to us, and coming alive in us. God sends us manna each day. Sometimes, we want more than we need. We've got questions, and we want answers. He tells us though that He will give what we need for each day. His Word can be trusted. It instructs, comforts, renews, and sustains us. We can trust. We can rest.

The focus of celebration today is not us, not even our son, but the God Who has shown up and shown off before our eyes! He is bigger than the battle has ever been! (one of my new favorite songs )He's so faithful to give us manna for each day so that we never have to go hungry.

"Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'

'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread every day.'

Jesus replied, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'"

PRAISE THE LORD!

So many have asked, "What does submitted to Embassy mean?"

Now that our paperwork is submitted, the Embassy has (supposedly) 10 business days to review it. Several cases have taken longer. If there is a birth relative living in the case (which with Levi there is), the Embassy has been requesting interviews. This is frustrating, as this was already done for our court case, and we are already officially his parents, but it is what it is. We truly believe this could be our opportunity to meet with some of Levi's family, too, which would be a great blessing for us to get to thank them and gather any information we could eventually pass on to him. God knows the details. I'm excited to see what He's got in store. We were told today we would probably hear around Feb 22nd-23rd whether our case is "cleared" or they need interviews or more information. There are some cases that have been determined as "not clearly approvable" and those are going to the Embassy in Nairobi. Evidently, they have better resources there, but that would be a MUCH longer wait. If at the end of two weeks, they don't need any more information, they will give us dates we can travel to come to Addis, have our Embassy interview, get his visa, and come HOME. Once again, we wait, but we are seeing not just light at the end of the tunnel, but Light along the way. I'll say it again....

PRAISE THE LORD!