Praise to our Lord!!

The region has started accepting dossier submissions again!! I will keep you all posted once I know where my submission date will fall with the current backlog of files, but I am beyond thrilled that the wheels are once again moving forward be it ever so slowly!!

Still waiting

Hi all,

  Well, I wish I had anything new to report, but essentially thing are unchanged.  I do ask for prayer as I am expecting an official update on the Government situation from my agency in mid-May.  I have all of my paperwork ready (and am now having to start monitoring for the items which will expire and have to be resubmitted), my USCIS approval is pending, and I am only waiting for the doors to reopen.  Please keep all the waiting families and children in your prayers.

A small update

I have no big news to announce at this point unfortunately. My HS is almost done, only a few minor corrections being made & I'll be sending off for my USCIS approval as my next step. My FBI background check cleared & I have gotten that paperwork apostilled by the State Department (Thanks Kelly for hand walking it through for me!) USCIS will take another 4-8 weeks for clearance. My hope is that by that time things will again be moving, but I have no real timeline yet. Please continue to pray.

Bad news

I have to let you all know that I received some very bad news yesterday.  The region of the country from which I am trying to adopt Caleb has shut down adoptions to American families indefinitely.  This comes after several high profile cases of abuse from American adoptive parents (who have received very light sentences from the criminal justice system in the US) have made the news in the last year.  When I was told this yesterday, I broke down at first.  I cried, felt like punching something, and it just broke my heart.  I've had time to process things overnight, I've spoken with my adoption agency contact and I am dealing with things in a much more positive way this morning. 

So, there is in indefinite stop to all adoptions right now.  This has happened before and has lasted as little as a month to up to 5-8 months.  My agency feels is is very unlikely that it will be a permanent end to American adoptions there, they just can't predict when things will start up again.  I have no control over that.  It is in God's hands, and while he clearly hasn't asked my opinion on the time line - cause this sure wasn't a part of my plan, I trust him.  Even though it hurts, I know this is part of his plan.  A friend reminded me last night that He loves Caleb more than I do.  I know that in my head, but on days like this my heart can forget that. 

I will continue my preparation and planning and complete my paperwork, doing everything I can to be ready for when the country opens adoptions again and I can bring Caleb home.  I will keep you all updated as soon as I hear of any official change in the policy.  Until then, please pray for everyone involved in this situation.  For the Russian officials making the decisions, the adoption agencies dealing with all the families now in limbo, the parents now waiting an unknown time for their children, and most importantly the children who are now in the orphanages for an even longer period of time.   I leave you with a quote from a musical I saw as a child at camp that has always stayed with me.

God is too wise to be mistaken.  God is too good to be unkind.  So when you don't understand. When you can't see His plan. When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart.

More pictures and an update

Our monkey bathroom!!  Wow, technology is not my friend, but I have at least figured this out :-)  So, on the downside I will not be able to take my dossier to Nashville this weekend because my home study is not yet ready.  Hopefully this is only a week long delay and I will be able to travel to Nashville the next weekend.  As my region of the country is on a two week hold and no paperwork is being submitted at this point anyway, it shouldn't really affect my timeline.  My social worker is hoping to have all the documents ready by this Friday so that they can be reviewed by my adoption agency before being printed and notarized.   Nashvile is a 5 hours trip, I'm hoping to only travel for the 1st batch of apostilling.  I'm way to nervous to mail my 40-60 documents and trust that to the postal service!

Getting close

Hey everyone,

Well, I am almost at the end of the 1st part of the paper chase!!  As of this coming Wednesday, barring any catastrophes, I will have collected all the paperwork needed for my registration dossier and be ready to have everything apostilled and then submitted to my adoption agency.  All I have left to do is to get the final copy of my homestudy, my home and family photos, and a few more forms all notarized.  My hope is to travel to Nashville the weekend of the 18th and visit with college friends before having my apostilling (which is literally a stamp that say my notary stamp is done legally :-) done Monday morning and driving back to Johnson City!!  I had hoped to have my dossier translated and submitted in country by the end of February, but there is a month long shutdown in my region, so the earliest the court will view my paperwork is probably late March.  This is because the court only accepts so many dossier submission per month and now there will be a bit of a back log of cases.  This means my earliest possible travel date to meet Caleb will likely be no sooner than late April.  I'm disappointed by this, but honestly I've been expecting delays so it is not really a shock.  I know God is working this out in the right timing and everything is happening exactly as it should. 

On the more fun side, my good friends are once again helping me out this weekend.  We're going to finish putting the basics of Caleb's room together and paint and decorate his bathroom.  That means by next week I'll finally be able to put some photos online :-) Keep praying please, for smooth transitions in Caleb's country and that the courts do all they can to help these children get to their new homes!!

Almost done, at least the 1st set of paperwork :-)

So, with the help of some dear friends I was able to get Caleb's room painted this weekend. I just love the colors! Hopefully I'll be able to get his bed put together this week & move the furniture into the room. The girls are still trying to convince me to repaint the bathroom as well, but we shall see!

I'm getting a copy of my psych eval Monday, my professional 8x10 photo for my dossier Saturday & hopefully my lab results early next week. That means that I'll have everything I need except my home study by the end of the 1st week in February --- and hopefully my home study report by around Valentine's Day. God willing, I could have my registration dossier submitted before March & be in the waiting line for a 1st travel date!!!!

Things are moving along better than I could have hoped so far. Keep up the prayers everyone :-)