A Rooney Of Their Own

Our house owners, Ted and Lori, applied to adopt a baby from Ethiopia. It's been a year-long process, from starting paperwork, passing screenings, getting approved by "Gladney," the adoption agency in the States, then by the orphanage, then waiting for a child referred to them. They 'met' their referral baby via pictures in December. Lori had started a blog back in May chronicling the whole journey.

The day came in the Ethiopian court. Gladney has a great reputation and never had any problems with adoptions. But this time the judge didn't trust the paperwork. Adoption Denied. That was January 4. Ted and Lori were crushed. But the attorney who works for the orphanage launched a vigorous appeal, made sure all the paperwork was in order, backed up and attested to, so no judge would doubt it. But even with everything in order, nobody knew what to expect.

Lori came down from Portland this weekend. The court date for the appeal is tomorrow.

My plan was to fast and pray today as. Ethiopia is 11 hours ahead. This morning I was in my office, and heard Ted and Lori on speaker phone with someone. After some time the speaker phone went silent. I went out to the dining room.

"Was that Gladney?" I asked.
"Yes," Ted replied.
"Were they prepping you for tomorrow?"
Ted smiled. "We're parents."
Court officials reviewed the paperwork a day early and said, "Why was this ever denied?" They approved the adoption without the court date! You can read more on their blog, but here's a picture of the peanut.

The community of parents who've adopted from Ethiopia is tight, and the Rooneys have gotten a lot of support. Lori pointed to me to the story of one couple who've adopted two children. On their last visit they stayed a while at the orphanage, playing games and visiting with the children. They met an adorable 8 year old boy, Samson. When they finally left camp, the boy he whispered in the man's ear, "choose me."

The good news is, the three of them are coming to The States they're going to The States to the "Bright Futures" camp, where families who are interested in adoption older children can come and meet lovely children like Samson and his sisters. If you're the praying sort, please pray that Samson and his siblings find parents who are worthy of them!