Cornelius Family

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5
 
The road to our son Zachary stretches back four long years, when the desire for a child began. We were ready to have a baby, so we began to try to conceive. Month after month slipped by with no pregnancy. We knew something wasn't right. So we talked and prayed about what to do. We seriously considered infertility treatments, but neither one of us had peace about that. We spoke of adoption, which excited us both, but overwhelmed us in terms of finances. So, we waited. Three years and five months passed before the door opened for us to move in the direction of adoption.
 
We had done extensive research on adoption agencies, and we began to look through all the brochures we had received. We were drawn to CWA. We visited their website and saw that there was a brand new Ethiopian program. At the time, there was a short video clip that we must have watched dozens of times. It was an instant knowing for both of us that our child was in Ethiopia. We excitedly signed up with CWA in November of 2005.
 
We struggled for two months to find a home study provider, and finally in January of 2006, we did. We then anxiously waited another three months as our home study was completed. We had finished our dossier in about one month, so waiting for our home study was very difficult. Finally, the wonderful day came when we sent off our completed dossier and we began the wait for our referral.
 
Early on in the process, I had been set on a girl, but my husband was open to either gender. We then learned of how the majority of adopting families usually request an infant girl. That bothered me, so I happily agreed to change our preference to either gender. Waiting for our referral felt like forever, and to heighten our anxiousness, we were facing a two month court close that we weren't sure we would miss. To add even more to my worry, I was wondering how old our referral would be. Since this was to be our first child getting matched with, a very young baby was very important to me, but I had to trust God to match us with the right child. Five weeks later we got the call. We were having a boy, and he was 2 months old! He was beautiful. We accepted him immediately and waited for our court date, praying furiously that we would be assigned one before the courts closed for Ethiopian holidays. Thankfully we got a court date within a few weeks of our referral and it was successful a week later. Two more weeks went by and we got word of our embassy appointment and made travel arrangements. Seven weeks after seeing a picture of our son for the first time, we boarded a plane that took us half way around the world to pick him up.
 
Meeting our son was an amazing experience. He was so tiny, but very alert. When they handed him to us, we fell instantly and completely in love. He wrapped his little hand around our fingers and heart. Our embassy appointment went very well and we were on "Cloud 9" when the interview ended with, "Congratulations! He's your son!" Our time in Ethiopia was very precious. Our eyes were opened to the immense poverty and suffering there, and to the plan our gracious God has for all people, to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Christians we met there through the CWA staff are so full of God's love and Spirit and their generosity is humbling. Though their country is one of the poorest in the world, seeing Christ alive in them made us realize how true the verse is that says, "What does is profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" Though the poverty that the Ethiopian people live in is overwhelming, the thing they need more than food and shelter is the love of Jesus Christ. We continue to pray for Ethiopia, and trust that God will continue to work there, calling more people unto Himself.
 
Through all the years of infertility, we never imagined one day being thankful for it. But now that we have Zachary in our arms, who is the perfect child for our family, we are so thankful that this was the path God chose for us. The weeping and darkness of night was very painful, but through it we learned and grew so much. The sun has now broken through and the joy we feel now far outweighs the sorrow.

James and Leah Cornelius