It Was Not Great... from Molly

Well...

I don't know what to say about court today.

I mean that literally.

I can't think of what to tell you...

It was not great.
I am sure it could have been a lot more terrible.
It was not the slam dunk we had been hoping for.

Their lawyer appeared to be about twelve years old. So I was pretty surprised when he opened his mouth and an articulate and legitimate SOUNDING argument spilled out. We had hoped that his defense would be poorly delivered and easy to dismiss.

He, of course, argued that the judge had ruled incorrectly in the original case and that the birthfather was wrongly stripped of his parental rights. The judges asked questions of both lawyers. One judge said nothing. It was hard to tell what the other two judges were thinking.

The birthfather's lawyer said some untrue things about Matt and I, and also said that we had refused to take the stand in the preliminary trial because we knew we would be asked tough questions about what the birthfather had done for Waverley. At that point, we wanted to stand up and yell,

"Oh I will tell you all about that right here and now!"

We would have paid money to take the stand in the original trial! All we have wanted was for Waverley to have a voice instead of the opposition carrying on about the birthfather's rights.

Having to hear those untrue words was frustrating, to say the least.

At the conclusion of the time, the opposing lawyer got to have the last word. He used that time to make his final remarks and to make several false claims about things the birthfather has done. And we just had to listen and could not dispute it.

The judges have all of the information at their disposal.

We are praying that they will clearly see the truth and decide for the best possible future for Waverley.

Our lawyer said he expects the ruling in three to five weeks. He is an amazing lawyer but has proven a little bit of a poor predictor on the time frame front! So hopefully we will know that soon. We are not anticipating that we will though.

The judges can either rule that we win the appeal, lose the appeal, or they can kick it back to the lower court and order a retrial where we would basically start over from the beginning.

Both of these last two options seem completely unbearable.

I am sorry this update seems so cold and factual. We are sad and tired. It's been really tough today.

I'll just close by saying it again: it was not great.

In the midst of this hard day, we are so thankful for all of the prayer covering our sweet daughter today.

I'm just going to go hold her for awhile now.

Love,
Molly

**********

Friends,

Please pray that despite the articulate arguments made by the opposing attorney, these three judges will have the foresight and the wisdom to see through the "smoke and mirrors" and be able to clearly distinguish fact from fiction.

I personally can't imagine having to sit still and listen to false words spoken about me. It seems unfathomable that such a thing could happen in a court of law, of all places!

Thank you for continuing to pray for our friends.... pray that the judges would have wisdom that is beyond this world and as they weigh the evidence before them over the coming weeks, that the true character and intent of the birthfather would be clearly revealed to them.

Finally, as I shared with you in this post, the last thing Matt & Molly want to have to endure is another holiday season without resolution to this litigation. Last year, trying to celebrate the special-ness of the holidays, while carrying the burden of not knowing whether it would be their last time to do so as a family of four, was just too much to bear. Therefore, I ask you to pray specifically that this case would be decided expediently so that by the time the Christmas holiday is here, they will be able to celebrate it without fear or anxiety.

Thank you again for continuing to lift them up... I suspect that they will need your prayers even more as these days of waiting continue.

With gratitude,