No stamp, no service.

“This is not authenticated; there’s no stamp.” The officer checking Mia’s birth certificate slid a stack of paperwork back to me and moved onto the next application. Up to this point, we had breezed through the process for her yellow card (Ethiopian origin ID). Our documents had been successfully verified multiple times...only to be turned back now after two hours of waiting.

I collected Mia and steadied myself for the looming “gauntlet” of acquiring the coveted stamps to authenticate her birth certificate.

To my American brain, this is a bit infuriating even after living here for 6 years and having this happen more than once. How is the document’s issuing authority not authorized to authenticate it?! It was authentic enough to get her passport but not an ID? Two hours seemingly wasted.

The stack of our family paperwork truly just gets thicker by the day. I have two copies of everything-one for the US and one for Ethiopia. Sammy has IDs and school transcripts, Chloe has pages of adoption paperwork, Mia has her own pile now verifying her birth abroad to an American citizen.

It’s quite easy for me to recall the hours, frustrations, and setbacks of the seemingly endless processes. I still remember the grumpy faces, the fingers pointing at the clock that said lunch time, and gleaming eyes waiting for incentive to move things along faster.

But I have also been thinking of the hours it has afforded me to get to be with the girls or Sammy. How we have faced the challenges together and how God has been faithful to keep moving us the next step forward. Right on (His) time, we’ve been able to finish what we needed.

Thankfully with just a few steps Mia’s birth certificate was authenticated and her ID application re-submitted just a few days after our first attempt. I picked it up today, and she is now set until she’s 18!

Praise God with us that all four of us have updated IDs and passports! Keep us in prayer as we navigate the process for Chloe to gain American citizenship and for the future of Diaspora adoption in Ethiopia.