The End is Near!

Oh what a few months it has been! We are finally in the end of our paper chase and it feels soooooooo good! Actually, it has been a little stressful simply waiting on other people to complete their end of this process.

It has been over a month now and we are still awaiting the final copy of our Home Study report. This is a prayer request as we had hoped to see this report sooner rather than later. A copy of this report would need to be forwarded onto the US Immigration Service in Philadelphia so that we can complete our I600A (Orphan Visa) process and we are not sure how long the final process of that will take. Although we are told not to expect that it would take too long given the fact that we have been fingerprinted by the FBI and this is the piece of the process that usually takes the longest for visa grants. (Ok, I posted this blog earlier this morning, but felt that I needed to update this to share with everyone that we received a draft copy of our Home Study today! Praise God for answered prayer! Dave and I made necessary corrections and deletions and reforwarded the draft to our social worker who will then forward it on to our adoption agency for review and approval before it is finalized. Hopefully this part will be completed within the week!)

We are also awaiting the results of our personality/psychological intentories and the Psychologist's report. The inventories that we were instructed to take consisted of 500 some true/false questions! It took over 2 hours to answer the whole test. Yikesy mama! If you are ever in the mood for some good clean fun...something to spend a lot of time laughing over, ask us to send you a copy of some of the questions we needed to answer for this! Some are pretty understandable...some make little sense whatsoever...and still some are pretty humorous! =)

The only other piece of paperwork that we are still waiting for is Dave's birth certificate. It turns out that the copy we have is from the US Consolate in Colombia while Colombia would like a copy from the Vital Statistics of the US...who knew there could be so many issuing authorities for one document. We expect this piece of paperwork any day now.

On a completely different note, Dave has begun two classes with HACC, our local community college. For those of you who do not know, he is pursuing accounting classes with the intent of pursuing his CPA (becoming a Certified Public Accountant) down the road. He has a business administration degree, but did not have the number of accounting credits he needs to get an entry level accounting position to prepare for taking his CPA. We would invite your prayers through the fall as he juggles full-time work, family, school, adoption details, and taking care of himself.

I have continued to arrange for more Pampered Chef shows throughout the fall. These have been a lot of fun for me. I enjoy meeting new people, sharing some of my own cooking experience, polishing my presentations, and sharing the reason for why I am doing PC. More recently I have also been blessed with the interest of others to do Home and/or Catalog shows. This has been a wonderful help in getting ready for the adoption and raising the final funds we need to complete it.

Someone recently mentioned their philosophical position on adoption which made me think more intentionally about my own. In our experience in preparing to adopt, we have found that there are people that understand the process completely and those that are still influenced by old pictures of adoptions gone bad or children who were very difficult to raise because of experiences that occurred prior to adoption.

I can't remember a specific 'time' that I personally began to think about adoption, but I can definitely say that it was well before marriage. Perhaps it was during childhood and having the experience of living with foster sisters; I think the decision to adopt occurred more during college through a time when God was building within my own heart a passion for working with inner city youth. It was through those years I found myself considering what it meant to be a parent and what my hopes for my own children would be. Adoption was always a part of that thinking as I did not see biological children as the only way to form family.

In marrying Dave, I was joined together with someone who's life was historically influenced by another place, culture, and people...in fact, several. In his heart, Dave maintains a huge space for his 'Hispanic' culture and heritage. It is fun to listen to his stories of growing up, watch the delight that appears on his face as he shares those memories, and to think of the history that he has to share with an adopted son or daughter from Colombia.

I found the 'philosophical thoughts' of this friend to hurt as they shared of their opposition to infant and international adoptions that cost so much when children could be adopted for little expense through other networks here. In fact, I realized in those moments why it is so important to listen. It is through listening that we have the power to see the journey of another and what God has been forming in that person's life. I also realized that not everyone is going to understand or support the journey we are on, although it doesn't diminish it. It is a bit therapeutic to write this as historically I have struggted with 'people-pleasing' and the worry of what others may think of me if I chose something they disagreed with. I realized that this more recent conversation re-ignited in me the desire to please. It caused me to question the journey we are on because of the disapproval of another. I realized also that I allowed this conversation to diminish some of the entitelement that I personally feel in becoming an adoptive parent through Colombia.

In reflecting, I have been reminded of the journey that God has been leading us personally through. I am also reminded of the directing and equipping that God has been faithful to do along the way. For the resources and reassurance, I am grateful.

I cannot tell you how much excitement is building in my own heart for meeting our son or daughter! Sometimes I am excited to pray...sometimes I am excited to tears...sometimes I find myself simply thoughtful in contemplating the future. It has been through these moments that God has also been building within my heart a compassion for our son or daughter. It is in adoption that we gain an addition to our family...a time that families celebrate with much enthusiasm and excitement. On the other hand, this addition, while momentous and exciting for us, I am reminded that it comes with much sadness and loss. I am reminded that our child will be leaving everything that he or she has known....good or bad...they will be leaving behind people they have come to rely on and identify with...and so, in my anticipation for the day of our meeting, I find myself praying for them. I am praying for a spirit of comfort and protection during this time. I am not praying that God would remove the hurt, but that God would use that hurt in their life to form in them his own character. I recently read a quote from a young Drexel college student who died as a result of a brain tumor...during her final days on earth, she was quoted in saying, "I may not be able to change what happens to me. I just refuse to be reduced by it." My prayer for our son or daughter is that transitions in life would become impetus for growth.