Shawn left for training on the big island around 2 am.  He took the van so he wouldn’t wake me up.  So, I got up like a good girl, whined about walking to get the car... and then walked to get the car.  I stopped at Starbucks on the way home for my venti iced caramel latte with an extra shot... because, well, I need an extra shot.  I got home - and Austin said that Joy called.  YES!  We’ve been waiting for this phone call!!!

First off, I love Joy.  Really.  She is absolutely wonderful.  She loves these kids, she loves the families, and she loves God.

So, she tells me that they have petitioned for a court date for Chaltu yet because they have been unable to find her birth mother.  It’s important to find her birth mother, because she HAS to show up at the court proceeding to give her testimony.  Without her there, the court case would be denied.  YWAM has search for her birth mother - even into other countries where they thought she might be.  However, they have not been able to find her. 

So... YWAM has asked the local kebele (sort of like a police district, I believe) if they could process Chaltu’s paperwork as an abandonment case, and they got the OK.  So now YWAM is working on getting the proper paperwork for Chaltu so that she can be declared abandoned.

We are unsure how much time this will add onto the already long process.  Shawn is due to leave for a 2 month training in mid February - and if we don’t get a court date until January or later, then travel would be while Shawn is away at training.  I have 4 kids here at home... so I am not sure what we will do.  Mom insists that we will cross that bridge when we come to it, but it scares me. 

I wish I understood God’s timing.  Mom has always told me that we may never know what God has saved us from if we trust his timing.  It could be something small or not so small, but we have to trust that He has a reason for His timing.