Sunday, July 25, 2010

A Week From Now....


A week from now we will be on an airplane (probably on our way to our connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany :)with a destination of Addis Ababa!!! Needless to say, we grow more excited with each passing day as we realize that we will be meeting our son very soon! At the same time, we think about what he must be feeling- Is he anxious, excited, fearful, a little of all of those?

If we are honest, we are feeling a little of all of those emotions too! Mostly excitement, as we are so thankful that God has given us such a precious gift. Soon we will be getting to know him, learning as much as we can about him, and communicating to him how much we love him! A little anxious, as we don't know quite what to expect when it comes to meeting a 4 year old child that really can't understand or communicate- at least not verbally anyway. And of course, fearful. Fearful of the traveling, fearful that Noah Nigus will not want to interact with us, fearful that he won't want to accept us, fearful of leaving him at the end of the week for an unknown time period, and fearful of leaving Caleb here for what seems like an eternity.

But, thankfully, we have a God who tells us he has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of adoption!!! We have a God that tells us we can cast all our anxiety on Him, because he cares for us! So, that just leaves excitement!!! Yeah!

We do desperately ask for your prayers as we journey to Ethiopia. Please pray for:

- Our safety, as we have three connecting flights and a few long layovers

-Our health while in Ethiopia

-That we will be able to communicate with the drivers in Ethiopia and that we will be able to go to all the orphanages we are supposed to visit so that we may bring much needed donations and take photos and letters for parents still waiting to be united with their children


-Please pray that despite the language barrier, we will be able to communicate with Noah Nigus in a way that he understands we are his mommy and daddy and how excited we are to have him be a part of our family

-Please pray for Noah Nigus that his heart will be ready to accept the love we have to give. This is one prayer I have been praying over and over as of late.

-Please pray that Noah will understand that we are coming back for him, as we anticipate our leaving being a difficult thing for all of us

-Please pray for Caleb, that he will understand why we are leaving him for an extended time and also understand how much mommy and daddy love him

-Please pray for my parents and Zack's parents as they give love and care to Caleb in our absence

Thank you so much for your prayers!!!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Nigus (Noah) is Officially a Caldwell!

Today was our first court date (this covers the legal aspects of the adoption )and we just received news that we passed court and Nigus is officially a Caldwell!

Nigus is Noah's Ethiopian name, and we plan to use this as his middle name. So, eventually his name will be Noah Nigus Caldwell. Right now, his legal name is Nigus Zachary Caldwell. In Ethiopia, they use the father's first name as the child's middle name.

We still to have appear for the second court date, which will be August 4th. At this court date, we will answer the judges questions as to why we wanted to adopt a child from Ethiopia, etc.

We are so excited to meet Noah!!! Please be praying for our time together. We have specifically been praying that his heart will be ready to welcome us as his parents, and that he will be able to accept the love we show him. We are also praying that God will give us wisdom and understanding as we get to know Noah.

We can't post any photos until the second court date....sorry!!! But we did get the most adorable picture of Noah receiving his care package from us. In the picture, he is holding the photo album we sent him- it is opened to the picture of Zack, Caleb and I. How awesome to think that soon there will be four people in those pictures!!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!

Praise God! We received word today that we will indeed be traveling to Ethiopia before the court closure! We were told that our first court date (the date we do not have to be present) is July 21st, and the second date will be August 5th (we will be present at this court date)!!! One day before the courts close!!! Only God!!! We had really been praying for the strength to trust him no matter what, I can honestly say that though we preferred to travel sooner, we were at peace with having to wait, as we know God knows what is best for our family!

As I received this news and it finally began to sink in that we had made it, the overwhelming feeling I experienced was just the love of God. I felt so loved by God. It is so hard to believe just how much God loves me and you! Don't get me wrong, I know it wouldn't have meant that he loved me or Zack, or Noah less if we had not made it before the courts close, it's just at times He gives us little tangible glimpses, and seems to do things, just for us. Oh, how he loves us!

We are busy trying to get our flights booked and make arrangements for our accommodations, but right now it looks as though we will be leaving for Ethiopia August 1, and returning on August 8.

I can't believe we will be meeting our son in 2 weeks!!!!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Court Update- Please Keep Praying!

We did receive some news today from our agency. Here is what they told us:

We are hoping to get court dates for your group by the end of this week, but so far the courts have not released the court papers assigning a court date for your case as of yet. We will pass it on the minute I hear. If not this week then it should definitely be next week. At this point it does look unlikely that both court dates will happen before the closure, but again, it is all just new and we will see. If your first court date is before the closure and you pass, if you don't have a date for your second appointment before the closure you will surely be one of the very first when they reopen.

Please keep praying and interceding on our behalf, and most importantly on Noah's behalf! We know that God can make this happen is this is what is best for our family. Thank you for all the prayers!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Calling All Prayer Warriors!!

We still have not heard about a court date, and with each passing day that we don't hear, the chances of us having a court date before the courts close in early August gets slimmer and slimmer. We would appreciate your prayers, as we know that God hears the prayers of his people!

We also know that if it is God's will for us to be in Ethiopia before the courts close, we will be there. If he knows that it is best for us to go after the courts reopen sometime in late September/early October, then we will be there then. The one thing we do know is that our God is mighty, and his will can not be thwarted. No timeframe imposed by man can change his plans!

I was reminded of the words to this Chris Tomlin song when I was thinking about our court situation this morning. I hope it encourages you as well......Keep praying!


Thursday, July 8, 2010

Still Waiting.....





The above photos are from the 4th of July. We had a great time at Bea's farm (Belinda, or Bea as Caleb calls her is my mom's best friend) and saw some great fireworks and old friends.
Still no news of a court date, though families who submitted their paperwork to court on the same day as we did seem to be receiving court dates for July 21st, or thereabouts. We are still feeling really positive about the prospects of receiving a court date before the courts close, though we are feeling quite anxious while we wait to hear! One scripture passage that God has really used to keep me focused on Him during this time is 1 Peter 5:6-7: "Humble yourself under God's almighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares on him, because He cares for you." I have been daily casting the anxiety and fear I feel about possibly not receiving a court date on the Lord, and gradually I am learning to leave it there, as well.
I am not sure if I have ever written about this or not, but Zack's uncle is Chip Ingram, pastor and president of Living on the Edge Ministries. He is on the radio daily and has such an awesome ministry- you definitely want to check out their ministry and listen to some of his podcasts. He has an amazing gift for teaching the Word of God, and I recently listened to a message in which he referenced the passage from 1 Peter 5:6-7. He really brought to light something I had never considered- that when we don't cast our cares on God, it is really an act of pride on our part, as if somehow we think God is not capable of taking care of all our cares and worries, but somehow we are- absurd, I know, but the more I think about it, I am guilty of this quite often. So, during my prayer time, I have been asking God to reveal to me the ways in which I keep my worries and concerns to myself, instead of giving them to God. It is going to take some practice, but the peace that God has already been so faithful to give is amazing!