God speaks in complete sentences.

This week we've been doing alot of 'praying without ceasing' but I have to admit that the verse that has been running through my head continually has actually been the one just before the 'pray without ceasing' one which says- 'rejoice in all things'.  Like when you listen to a fun song on the radio and its stuck in your head for hours and days and days and suddenly its been a week.  That's what the last handful of days have been like.  Lots of prayers for all those waiting, for MOWA letters, for the workers, for our process and for Kaleb's continued good care.  By the end of the week, I had checked my email more times than I care to admit.  And, God kept saying 'rejoice in all things'.  Friday came and went with no word on our MOWA letter.  Many people feel that Friday was the last day the judge generously delayed her holiday in order to finalize as many cases as possible which had received their MOWA letters.  Many, many, many families received their letters and I am so thankful that so many kiddos will be heading home as soon as possible. 
So, what does this mean?  Well, we don't know for sure and when we say 'God only knows...' we mean it wholeheartedly and genuinely.  Our guess is that most likely Kaleb's adoption will not be finalized by the Ethiopian court until October when court resumes and the judge again is at work signing finalization papers.  Once the finalization is signed, we will begin working with our Embassy to get our little guy immigrated to the US!  God knows, we'll just follow along as He reveals His plan and timing to us. 
If we read the complete sentence found in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 it reads like this..

" ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

While we wait some more- we have a lot to rejoice and give thanks for while we're praying continually.  We can't just pick and choose which we want to do and which we'd rather push aside.  We are rejoicing that we've been to Ethiopia.  We know he is in a clean, warm and very caring environment where the nannies pretty much have those little babies on the verge of spoiled.  He is healthy and happy and knows how to flash that smile to the sweet nannies across the room.  We are so blessed to have been granted an early court date.  Others who have received their referrals near to ours will be waiting until November for their court dates.  There will be blessings in God's timing for this fall.  Perhaps we are to get the busyness of fall concessions out of the way, get my teacher in training all set and a few more months to save up a little extra for when I'm home from work for a bit. 

In the meantime, I'm bringing my summer to a close by doing what I love and has consumed a majority of my summer days.... heading to the country to drive tractor for Dad :) Definitely no wi-fi and or constant email checking, that's for sure.  We'll see how rusty my farmer brain is- like Dad says, I probably 'better grease it before ya go'.