{"id":18513,"date":"2013-11-13T19:03:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-13T23:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/?p=18513"},"modified":"2017-10-29T10:31:37","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T15:31:37","slug":"my-white-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/my-white-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"My White Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember my first adoption like it was yesterday.\u00a0 Three of my four children’s\u00a0adoptions have been relatively straightforward and simple.\u00a0 My first adoption, however, was not one of those three!\u00a0 The adoption of my eldest, Ethan Alexander, was a soul tsunami.\u00a0 I am so glad I went through it, because we got him!!!\u00a0\u00a0 That being said, it was not easy.\u00a0\u00a0 I’d like to share a small portion of his adoption story with you.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"LoraleeLewisEthanstory3\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In\u00a0January of 2007, after many months of heartache and trial in fighting for Ethan,\u00a0we came to a very important part of\u00a0Ethan’s adoption process.\u00a0 We needed to appear before the Ugandan High Magistrate, the\u00a0highest court in Uganda, to receive\u00a0an adoption ruling.\u00a0 This would be the make or break of whether or not our six-month old baby, Ethan, would qualify for a visa and come home to the United States.\u00a0 The day before our hearing, the front page of the top newspaper in Uganda was plastered with an article about International Adoption.\u00a0 The High Magistrate (the judge we would be seeing the very next\u00a0day) stated\u00a0in the article that\u00a0he believed international adoption to be child trafficking\u00a0and he would not\u00a0approve any international adoptions in his court.\u00a0 (At the time, Uganda did less than 4 adoptions a year.)\u00a0 The chances had been slim to begin with that we would get Ethan, now it seemed impossible.\u00a0 Heartbroken and scared, we began to fast and pray.\u00a0 In our eyes, it was not only a fight for\u00a0bringing home our baby\u00a0– we were also fighting for Ethan’s life.\u00a0\u00a0We had been fostering him in our Ugandan “home” for several months.\u00a0 In the orphanage, he had Malaria twice, Measles once and been labeled by the foreign doctors as failure to thrive due to lack of interaction.\u00a0 There was no way I would take him back to the orphanage.\u00a0\u00a0He was ours and we were his. \u00a0I would live in Uganda forever if I had to.\u00a0 We prayed that the Judge’s heart would be softened.<\/p>\n

\"LoraleeLewisEthanstory1\"<\/p>\n

The next morning, I remember slowly walking into the Ugandan High Court.\u00a0 High Magistrates are Gods in Uganda.\u00a0 I had been instructed to not look at the judge and be completely quiet to show as much respect as I could. I\u00a0followed the directions and hoped that little Ethan wouldn’t cry as I clung tightly to my baby.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The proceedings began.\u00a0 Our lawyer pleaded our case.\u00a0 The High Magistrate stated\u00a0that his heart had been touched and\u00a0he\u00a0was ruling that Ethan was legally ours!\u00a0 Elated we left the court room.\u00a0 We believed we had witnessed a miracle!<\/p>\n

We received the court ruling written out the next day.\u00a0 This was the last piece of paper we needed to get Ethan’s visa and fly him home.\u00a0\u00a0They had our orphan investigation, health reports, home studies, etc.\u00a0 This was all we needed.\u00a0 Thrilled we went the Embassy.\u00a0 At this point in the adoption, the US Consulate knew\u00a0me all too well.\u00a0I guess you could have called\u00a0us friends<\/del> frenemies. \u00a0I had been careful to follow every rule the consulate and Uganda Government set.\u00a0\u00a0My goal in adopting Ethan was to do everything perfectly and correctly, to make it easier for future adoptions in Uganda.\u00a0 This seemed to thrill the US Consulate.\u00a0\u00a0It seemed as if he had a personal vendetta to make\u00a0it as difficult as possible for me to bring Ethan home.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The consulate looked over the ruling.\u00a0 It stated that Ethan was formally adopted by us, that Uganda recognized him as our son.\u00a0 The consulate didn’t like it.\u00a0 He said he wanted different wording.\u00a0 He wanted it explicitly to say,\u00a0Ethan could travel with us.<\/p>\n

In Uganda, you don’t tell High Magistrates how to write their rulings.\u00a0 Especially, when it was a miracle ruling to begin with.\u00a0\u00a0But the US Consulate wouldn’t budge.\u00a0 My lawyer\u00a0was worried about being disbarred if she asked the judge to change his ruling, but I prayed.\u00a0\u00a0Weeks passed\u00a0and she stood by the door of the High Magistrate for hours and hours waiting for a moment to plead\u00a0the case.\u00a0 Miraculously, she met with him and the magistrate agreed to change the ruling to the wording specified by the consulate.\u00a0 I immediately\u00a0texted the consulate to make sure it was the correct wording and that we would receive a visa.\u00a0 (Yes, we had each other’s cell phone numbers at this point.)<\/em>\u00a0The US Consulate\u00a0texted me back that it was the correct wording and that if\u00a0I\u00a0got that wording he would give\u00a0Ethan a\u00a0visa.\u00a0 The High Magistrate’s office said\u00a0I\u00a0would receive the corrected ruling the next day. Thrilled I went to my Ugandan home to pack me and Ethan’s bags!<\/p>\n

The next day, in the middle of packing my bags,\u00a0 I received a phone call.\u00a0 It was my lawyer, Vicki, she was crying.\u00a0 She said, “Loralee, I am so sorry.\u00a0 I picked up the\u00a0corrected ruling and brought it to the High Magistrate to sign.\u00a0 But instead of signing it, he picked up his pen and\u00a0tore a hole through the ruling.\u00a0 He said that he never said any of it and that he would never approve your adoption.”<\/em>\u00a0 I bawled.<\/p>\n

\"LoraleeLewisEthanstory2\"<\/p>\n

The next day, I didn’t know what to do.\u00a0 So I just fasted and prayed.\u00a0 I didn’t leave my house.\u00a0\u00a0I just prayed with my little six month\u00a0old baby boy hoping that something would\u00a0some how happen to fix what was broken.\u00a0 At 4:30 in the afternoon, I received a phone call –\u00a0it was Vicki, my\u00a0lawyer.\u00a0 She had gone to the judge that afternoon and pleaded with him.\u00a0 The High Magistrate\u00a0signed the new ruling!\u00a0 I couldn’t have been more thrilled.<\/p>\n

Armed with the new court ruling (with the new approved wording), I arrived at the US Embassy.\u00a0\u00a0Happily, I\u00a0handed the\u00a0new ruling to the consulate.\u00a0 He looked over it and then stated that he had changed his mind.\u00a0 He would not give\u00a0Ethan a\u00a0visa.\u00a0 He wanted new wording.\u00a0 I stared at him.\u00a0How could he do this to me?\u00a0 To my son?\u00a0 This was the exact wording he had asked for.\u00a0 I had texts from him\u00a0proving it!!!\u00a0\u00a0He didn’t care what he had said before.\u00a0 He\u00a0now wanted it to include not only that Ethan was formally adopted, that he was our son, and that he could travel with us – he now wanted it to say specifically\u00a0state the United States – even though United States was written all over the document, he wanted it in another place.\u00a0 I was devastated.\u00a0 At this point, I could travel with Ethan to Canada, China, Mexico – just not the United States of America. I didn’t know what to do.<\/p>\n

\"LoraleeLewisEthanstory5\"<\/p>\n

Despite our best efforts, the Ugandan High Magistrate had reached his limit.\u00a0 He didn’t believe in international adoption in the first place.\u00a0 He wouldn’t adjust the ruling again<\/strong> for the US Consulate.\u00a0 My son was caught in a power struggle.\u00a0 Six months passed and nothing changed.\u00a0 We pleaded with both men.\u00a0 Neither would budge.<\/p>\n

During this time, I read books and watched movies to\u00a0cope.\u00a0 With a limited selection in Uganda, I watched The Lord of the Rings\u00a0trilogy at least ten times.\u00a0\u00a0On a particularly\u00a0difficult day, I went for a walk.\u00a0 I was so heartbroken, I could hardly move.\u00a0 It seemed\u00a0as if there were no answers\u00a0to my problems.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0walked slowly\u00a0through my neighborhood.\u00a0 As I walked, I thought about the ending of the\u00a0second Lord of The Rings movie – The good guys are fighting the bad guys in\u00a0Helms Deep\u00a0and although they have fought valiantly and received help from the elves – there is no hope.\u00a0 They are defeated.\u00a0 They will die. \u00a0Then right before their utter destruction, Gandalf comes\u00a0riding on a white horse and saves them.<\/p>\n

As I walked, I kept thinking about Gandalf and The White Horse.\u00a0 I wondered where my white horse was. Why had God not come and saved me and my son from this trial?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Where was He? \u00a0I couldn’t have kids biologically.\u00a0 I had trusted the Lord and felt that I had been led to Uganda adoption.\u00a0 I had fought valiantly for over a year for my child.\u00a0 Miracles had happened. So now, at the last moment, where was He?\u00a0 Where was my white horse?<\/p>\n

“Where is my white horse?”<\/em> I thought\u00a0as I walked.\u00a0 He is supposed to be here.<\/p>\n

Right then, I looked down at my feet\u00a0and standing right in front of me on the concrete was a small plastic white horse.\u00a0 I bent down, picked\u00a0him up, and cried.\u00a0 God was going to come.\u00a0 He was telling me He was on his way.\u00a0 My\u00a0White Horse was coming.<\/p>\n

\"LoraleeLewisEthanstory6\"<\/p>\n

Months\u00a0and a few miracles later,\u00a0I flew my Ethan home to the United States.\u00a0 Now, I keep my little white horse\u00a0by my desk to remind me that God comes.\u00a0 He will come riding at reckless abandon to fight our battles for us.\u00a0 And He always wins. When you feel defeated, know your White Horse is coming.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord doesn’t abandon us.<\/p>\n

\"LoraleeLewisEthanstory4\"<\/p>\n

My beautiful perfect miraculous Ethan.<\/p>\n

I will blog to you soon!<\/p>\n

We had Better Homes and Gardens at my house last week doing TWO photo shoots for next year’s mags!\u00a0 Ahh! Can’t wait to tell you about it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember my first adoption like it was yesterday.\u00a0 Three of my four children’s\u00a0adoptions have been relatively straightforward and simple.\u00a0 My first adoption, however, was not one of those three!\u00a0 The adoption of my eldest, Ethan Alexander, was a soul tsunami.\u00a0 I am so glad I went through it, because we got him!!!\u00a0\u00a0 That being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1018,1034,1024],"tags":[1155,2105,1667],"class_list":["post-18513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adoption-catharsis","category-lewis-family-2","category-inspiration-and-life-lessons","tag-adoption","tag-god","tag-inspiration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loraleelewis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}