Now that's what I'm talking about!

8/26 Text message from Dustin, sent at 11:22 PM:

We have a court date... Sept. 9



I would like to see those dot, dot, dots replaced by exclamation marks. We have a court date!!! September 9th. Two weeks from yesterday.

Dustin had missed a call from the lawyer's office on Tuesday so he tried calling the office Wednesday morning. No answer. Just after he called, our nun friend Sister Mary phoned in. She had just spoken with our lawyer who said we were FIXED in the court register for September 9th. This is as solid a court date as we could ask for. Moments later, the lawyer called Dustin personally with the same news. He said that Dustin should come in to do some more paperwork before the big day.

We have a court date!!! September 9th.

This news smacked me in the face when I thought there would be no news for another week. Anxiety pooled up in the in the pit of my stomach. Me, a mother? I could actually have a little child in just a few more weeks? Don't they know I'm not ready?

Adoption just flings us into parenthood. There's no set nine-month warning. It just happens when it happens. I can't even imagine our transition. Hi husband I haven't seen in 73 days (also known as 10.4 weeks). Hi little child who is suddenly my son. Goodnight husband who is exhausted from 48 hours of travel with an infant (and months of grief and depression). Goodnight son... I mean Good morning? His little biological clock will be spinning around. He'll be in a new country with new smells and a new bed with an almost-new woman by his side. How curious those eyes will be.

It's interesting. It's usually the mother who is exhausted from the physical pain of birth. Though we'll both undoubtedly be exhausted (and already are!), Dustin is the one who will be completely drained. I wish there was a way to give him more support now.

Actually, Dustin did have a little mini recharge. He and our American and Italian friends (3 of them) went to the national park for two nights. They stayed at a rustic little place there where one falls asleep listening to the sounds of hippos and warthogs grunting. It's a place where one carries a lantern up a hill to a tent, escorted by armed guards ready to take out any attacking wild beasts. It's a place where one sits out on a wooden deck watching the fireflies turn off and on, off and on in the vines and the brush surrounding the little niche known as Chinguni Lodge. It's a place where Dustin was able to rest. And see elephants! I am so jealous. They didn't come out for me when we went there together before. This time, Dustin and our friends explored the park via truck and almost ran right into a mama elephant. They had to make a quick getaway!

Oh the adventures...

Oh the adventures!!!

Pray for a September 9th court date. This should be the only court date. The day when the judge hears our pleas, sees little Moses, and agrees with our witnesses that this child is an orphan who needs a home like ours. Let's pack the next two weeks with positive thinking and prayer.