Firstly, I want to thank everyone who prayed for us today! We received pictures from our churches in the States and had many people message us as we were heading out the door to let us know that they were praying for us. I would like to give you an update on the events of today.
I am sure that most of you were picturing us as you were praying, sitting in a court room (probably like Judge Judy) and a judge in a robe standing up high behind a podium. The reality was a small room with four desks, and plastic red stools (but air conditioned, so not as jungle as you are thinking).
We came in and sat down across from a man, that we assumed was our judge. He asked us questions from 9:00-11:00 about the history of the girls, and how we could prove the length of time we had them. Lots of background story and telling the girls to sit still.
The girls did amazing. They listened and for the most part answered questions, even though it was all in Khmer and translated through our lawyer. The weirdest question was "How are they with your family?" Which we assumed was a bad translation of the questions, "Are the girls comfortable with living with you? Are they assimilating well?" To which we answered, "Yes? We love them and they love us, and they call us mommy and daddy." We both felt like the question was not really necessary, since we were sitting there with our daughters...
Another uncomfortable moment was when the biological father was asked about. At some point we were told that he may need to be involved, because he and the girls' mother were "married" in their village. But in that moment, I remembered something Srey Ron had told me in the meeting with our lawyer... The girls' father specifically said not to put his name on the birth certificates, because he wanted nothing to do with the girls. And when I said this, the man behind the desk dropped asking about the father, and wrote down in our statement that the father did not have a say. This is why you all prayed for us. If the father was necessary, it would have caused all kinds of problems. He could have held back permission for a bribe, or a whole list of other horrible things. This was huge!
Anyways, at some point in the interview, the man got up with our papers and walked into another room. After a while, our lawyer told us that he was speaking to the judge, and Kelsi and I both said simultaneously, "Wait. He is not the judge?" As it turns out, we had been talking to a clerk. So then we assumed that we would be going in to see the judge soon, but that was not the case.
Whether for better or worse, our judge did not want to see us, he instead worked through a clerk to take our statement... not sure if that is a good thing (he just wants to get the paperwork done) or a bad thing... no need to run those possibilities through our heads.
We were then told that they would like to meet with the mother, and we needed to have some documents translated (which our lawyer mentioned might be the case, but he wanted to wait and see which documents they wanted).
So, I hope no one is disappointed. I know that some might have had the expectation that we were going to get adoptions today, but that is not how Cambodia works. It is a process, and we are making forward progress, which is a huge answer to your prayers!
Kelsi and I are settling in and waiting on God's timing, as we take these steps forward. I will write later about new things going on in our lives... basically the things that we do while we wait (I think that will be the blog title).
Thank you again to everyone who prayed. We know for sure that this day would have gone differently without your support, and we are so encouraged by everyone in our lives who love us!
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
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