Unofficial, but Miraculous Nonetheless!

I'm not sure how to capture all the emotional ups and downs of this past week. It's been a blur as always and its also been especially draining. We drove to both of our kids' districts, went to see the Magistrate of Mpigi, and went to court for guardianship of both Viola and Gideon. Words can't describe how incredible this week has been. We're very happy to inform you all that things have gone well! It looks like we'll eventually be the proud parents of both little ones [currently unofficial, of course]!

So, here's the basic breakdown..

Last Thursday, we found out that our court date would be yesterday, September 27. Later on, we found out that it was darn near miraculous to get a court date scheduled in one week. Then, on Saturday, we went to Nakaseke to visit Viola. She was not happy to see us as it had been a few weeks since she'd seen us last. She didn't really interact with us at all, but it was still a worthwhile visit because it was a building block for our next meeting.

This past Tuesday, we went to Mpigi to visit the magistrate about obtaining Gideon's care order. It took a long time to get in, and when we got in, she was harsh; just like last time. She said she had her doubts about us and why we wanted the care order for Gideon. She also went as far as to say that Kristen has "bad character." All of this was made worse because Kristen had not been feeling well for several days. On this particular day, she held herself together well, despite being light headed, dizzy, and sick to her stomach. For awhile during the meeting, I thought she was not going to give us the care order. However, after much deliberation, she did grant it.

Now, Thursday.

Since we definitely did not want to worry about the traffic making us late, we left very early.  After running some errands, we found ourselves at the courthouse at 1:30 [our scheduled time was 3:00]. As 3:00 approached, I became increasingly nervous as NO ONE was there.. finally, fifteen minutes before 3:00, the Nakaseke parole officer showed up. It was around 3:30 by the time everyone else showed up. Then, we moved to another room where we found out that the judge was in a meeting that ran long. In a way, this played to our advantage as we got to interact with Viola a bit more. She was laughing and smiling because we were tickling her. At one point, she said that she would go with us if we would buy her biscuits [more of a cracker than a biscuit]! Finally, around 5:00, we were ushered in to see the judge.

For the first half an hour or so, the judge talked directly to the Nakaseke parole officer about things not really pertaining to our case. He seemed to be fairly upset with her and the practices/procedures that she's been using. After this, the mood lightened. He interviewed our case worker, Viola's grandmother, and lastly, Kristen [she did a phenomenal job, of course]. He then said these words.

"The ruling shall be on this coming Tuesday, October 2nd."

I was dismayed to hear this as I was under the impression that we would find out one way or the other right then and there. However, everyone else in the court room looked happy to hear the judge say this. Some even did some silent applauding. Then, it was on to Gideon's case. He interviewed the grandfather and also the grandmother. After this, he said again,

"The ruling shall be on this coming Tuesday, October 2nd."

I was shocked for several reasons. First of all, since most of it was hard to understand, I didn't understand why everyone seemed so upbeat. Even the judge seemed to be in a good mood. Also, I was shocked because I'd never been required to say a single thing in court. After thanking the judge, we exited the court room. It was roughly 7:30. In our conversation with the attorney afterwards, this is what she had to say.

"It is a miracle that the judge even agreed to see these cases on one week's notice and after having a meeting run long. Also, its unheard of that a judge would give the ruling in only three more days for both cases! I feel very confident that the ruling will be a 'yes.' He was in a good mood the entire time and cracking jokes! He is often a very harsh judge and dismisses many cases. This whole thing is miraculous!"

I hadn't realized the reality of all this until right then and there. Not only had all of this happened on such short notice, but we were now [unofficially] the legal guardians of both Viola and Gideon! It had never been clearer to me in that moment that God had his hand in all of this. Like our attorney had said, its nearly unbelievable that all of this would happen in the way that it did. I think the most shocking part of it all is that God would chose us to do this. Lately, its been made clear to me how far I have to go in my role as a parent. There are situations that I've handled with Gideon already that make me realize that I've got some work to do. It makes me think of all the stories in the Bible where God uses "little people to do big things." I often feel inadequate, but I know God wouldn't have called us to do this if he hadn't equipped us to be able to handle it. It also helps that we've got such awesome family and friends to help us out!

Its also right here that I have to take a minute to praise my wife. She has handled almost all of the paperwork and correspondence with our adoption agency, case worker, and attorney. Also, while being sick, she took it like a champ when the magistrate and judge picked on her. And, at this point, I feel like she has to teach me how to be a decent parent. She's been doing a great job, despite all that's been thrown at her. Basically, she's pretty awesome and I hope I don't have to sleep with Leon, in the dog house, when I get home.

Whew...

Now that we can take breath, we've still got things to get done before this whole thing is done. Our case worker told us today that he thinks getting the kiddo's passports and visas will take something like three more weeks from this coming Tuesday [date of the official ruling]. So, we'll be doing everything in our power to get this done as quickly as possible.

One rather unfortunate thing is that we originally set our return date to be October 2nd. Since this won't happen, we need to change it to some unknown later date. At this point, it's still a guess. So, we're hoping our guess will be close enough so that we don't have to change it again! Also, because we'll need to purchase 2 more plane tickets [for the kids!], we need to be sure about our date when we do set it. Its pricey to change flight dates, so pray that we get it right the first time!

Lastly, we're going to pick up Viola on Tuesday!! I'm sure this will be emotional for her. So, please please please pray that God will soften her heart towards us. Also pray for her grandmother as it will be hard for her as well. Its clear that their bond is strong and it may be painful to separate the two of them. Grandma is also 87 years old, so it's possible that this may be the last time that Viola gets to see her grandma...

So, hopefully the three grandma's she'll have in Iowa will be good  enough replacements ;) along with all the rest of you! We're very excited to get back pressurized showers, fall weather, and traffic that isn't completely insane. Most of all, we're excited to see our friends and family again!

We'll let you know how things go with Viola, the passports, visas, and departure dates asap!

Derek, Kristen, Viola and Gideon!!!!