So what now?

So, we have our referral!  Oh happy day!!  We were walking around Epcot in the world showcase and I saw the 703 area code come up on my phone.  I looked at Josh and froze for a few seconds! The next few minutes were a blur as I was half listening and crying as I heard our family coordinator tell us about the little boy we were matched with.  A beautiful 11 month old little boy.  After we were off the phone we waited a few minutes and got an e-mail with pictures of the most precious little boy EVER (no posting any photos until after our court date so you'll just have to wait!).  We sat down in the middle of Epcot, thanked the Lord, and then called our family!  WOW, what a trip to Disney! THANK YOU LORD!!!  We cannot explain how excited we are!
So, what next?  Ok, here it goes (the very very shortened version)...

1. We have to wait to be assigned a court date in Ethiopia so that we can travel there for court. Court dates usually come about one month after referral if all of the paper work is in order.  There are instances where it takes much longer.  Ethiopia's rainy season is August -early October and all courts shut down during that time because it is impossible to travel.

2. Therefore, if we don't somehow miraculously get a court date before August we will have to wait until after rainy season (middle of October or November) to fly to Ethiopia for court. 

3. Once we travel to Ethiopia for court AND PASS court we come back to the states and wait to be submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia and THEN to be cleared by them to bring our son home.  Once that occurs, we go to Ethiopia and bring our son home.

All that being said, we of course have NO idea of what kind of timeline we are looking at (as usual in the adoption world).  So, we pray. HARD.  We now God is completely in control and always has been.  Yes, we are praying EARNESTLY for a court date before court closes.  We know God moves mountains.  can you please pray with us?  Here are a few pics of the moment we found out about our little boy AND us signing our referral acceptance letter!