It's official...he's our son forever!

We just returned from our court hearing, where the judge gave us a favorable pronouncement and also waived the 10-day waiting period. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! The morning started with some stress, however...

We arrived at the courthouse about an hour early to practice our speeches with our translator and get prepared for court. We went into the courtroom about 15 minutes early. A few minutes later, the judge came in from her office with her binder of our paperwork and called Julia (our faciliator) and Dimitry (our translator) over. She was pointing to several pages she had bookmarked, and it was clear she was upset. Julia looked worried, and she and Dimitry tried to explain something. But they didn't get much time to say anything before the judge left. They talked to each other for a moment, and then came over and told us there was a problem with our paperwork. On some of our forms, it said "America World Adoption Agency" and some of them said "Association" instead of Agency at the end. The judge said she couldn't be sure this was the same business. Julia said she had noticed this problem, but had been told it was just a formality and wouldn't be a big deal. Of course, we were super nervous. Both of us started praying like crazy, and I actually asked God to wake some of you up to pray. So, if anyone woke up in the middle of the night and prayed for us, you can blame me! :-) It was seriously the longest 15 minutes of my life, wondering if the judge would return and what she would say.

But, at 10:00, she came back in as if nothing had happened. And all went fine. The hearing lasted a little over an hour. Ben and I both had to introduce ourselves and tell our stories. This consisted of short answers to questions Julia had given us ahead of time. It really wasn't hard, and we were able to look down at our notes. After each of us spoke, the judge asked some follow-up questions. Sometimes they were the same as things we had already said. But, we answered every one. I got asked if my parents would love our son the same as their biological grandson, which I thought was interesting. I told them in their hearts they already had two grandsons and they loved them equally. Good job, Mom and Dad!

The social worker from the hospital also presented testimony about Samuel, and her observations of our time together during our first visit. She said very nice things about us as parents. Before we knew it, the judge left to make her decision, and then came in and changed our lives forever. She declared us the parents of Samuel, and waived the waiting period. We are officially parents forever!

Tomorrow we'll visit him for his birthday, and then we'll pick him up for good on Monday. Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement. God is clearly answering them. We only made it through today by knowing that your prayers were giving us strength. I'll let you know how the birthday party goes tomorrow. :-)