I cannot believe how fast time has been flying this summer! This past month has been full of fun family stuff as we celebrated the marriage of JT's brother to his beautiful bride, Mandi, and as we spent some vacation time with my family relaxing in Cape May, NJ. To be truthful, I've appreciated the preoccupations of parties, work, picnics, and vacation. The busyness has definitely helped to keep us from going crazy wondering about our actual place in the waiting process.
Since I last blogged, MOWCYA has increased its daily number of cases from 5 to 10, and although 10 is still significantly lower than the 40-50 cases they were reviewing a day, I have to remind myself that it is also DOUBLE the number of cases that they had been hearing. Looking at it from a glass half full point of view makes this news much more exciting to share! Our agency has also told us that MOWCYA is planning to increase the number to 15 cases/day within the next month!
In other Ethiopian news, each year the ET government closes completely for six weeks during their raining season. This six-week closure varies between July-September every year, depending on the weather. Our agency informed us that the ET government has decided to hear cases through August 5, then will be closing until the fall. During this time, everything else will still be running as usual...meaning, families will still be matched during the six-week court closure, referrals will still be made, and Embassy hearings will still proceed. This annual government closure most likely will not affect us in anyway, but please pray for the families that will receive their referral call within this next week, knowing they will not be contacted about a court date until mid September. Please pray for endurance for these families as they wait, and continue to keep us in your prayer as we wait to be in their shoes!
