What's Next?

Now that our dossier has been completed and shipped, we've gotten the question "What's next?" quite a bit in the last few weeks. Well, the next step was for our dossier to be received in country, but we were notified Tuesday afternoon that it was received by the agency in South Africa. That's a huge relief!

So the answer is that the next step of the process is waiting. Nothing to do. No paperwork to collect, sign, notarize, or apostille. It's all done for now. Now we wait. Now life continues as normally as possible knowing that life could change at the drop of a hat (as any life can). It's just different because we've removed all barriers to getting these kids home. All paperwork is turned in. All it takes is a phone call and a file of a child (or children) in our inbox. 

It's been mentioned by several people that waiting must be the hardest part. For both Brian and I, it is one of the easier times. We know that the timing is completely in God's hands. Our kids will come home at the exact moment He has ordained. There is a huge peace we've found in trusting the Lord. A quote by Paul Tripp has been brought to mind several times since we started waiting.

“You live your life in the utterly mundane. If God doesn’t rule your mundane, He doesn’t rule you because that’s where you live.”

— Paul Tripp, War of Words (sermon)

Our life, while different than some, is mundane. We go to work, we eat dinner, laundry is done, cleaning, repeat. There has been a sweetness to handing this season over to the Lord. It's no longer up to us to finish anything. It's all done. Now we wait, trusting the Lord to rule in this season, as well as the next.

Prayer Requests

• Please pray with us that the Lord would protect our kid(s) during this season of waiting. Pray He would provide loving caregivers, food, clothing, and shelter - things we cannot provide for them at this time.
• Pray for us as we wait and prepare to welcome the child(ren) into our lives. 

Bon Voyage, Dossier!

On Monday, we received an email from our adoption agency that we had done two things incorrectly on our dossier. I was really frustrated, but thankfully did not feel depressed or overwhelmed. I felt determined. Tuesday night we got the items notarized and, on Wednesday, I found myself on a train headed to Chicago. I was downtown for almost two hours, running from the apostille office to FedEx to overnight the paperwork. Thankfully, the predicted downpour and lightning held off.

Yesterday we got this from our agency:

Naturally, we needed to celebrate, so I went by Dairy Queen before community group and bought a YAYYYYYY!! cake. As I was walking back to my car holding the cake, I realized every color from the South African flag was represented. Pretty great!

The Dairy Queen cake decorator really phoned it in on the icing application. Thankfully, it didn't affect the taste of the cake!

All of this to say - our dossier is shipping off to South Africa today! Please pray it would arrive safely and be viewed favorably by those who review it. We are so thankful to have gotten through this difficult phase of our adoption journey and praise God for His strength made known in our weakness.

So close...

Documents: Notarized!

We are really close to finishing our dossier. In a moment of genius, I had us scheduled to head to the bank to get 10 documents notarized on Friday evening, right after everyone and their mother gets off work. Going off a tip from another couple who just finished their dossier, I brought doubles of everything. We ended up needing four of them! Our notary was very interested our adoption and telling us how she hadn't gotten a raise this year. Both of these interests resulted in three mistakes. Despite the notary's best effort, we were victorious!

Saturday morning found me wearing out the carpet between my computer and our printer/scanner. We have to have four copies of our dossier, along with the original, so lots of copies were made! On Saturday night, after enjoying a Billy Corgan concert at Ravinia, we headed back to our hotel and assembled the four copies and put the original documents in order. Once that was done, we breathed a huge sigh of relief! We are getting close to being done!

27 documents here, adding a few more after this weekend!

World Quilt

When we met with our social worker for our final home study interview, she warned of the time that lay ahead that would just be waiting. As our dossier paperwork is coming to an end, the waiting is drawing closer and closer. I've never done well with just waiting, so she suggested having a project to do to keep me busy during this season. 

I really wanted to make a quilt that was modern and something we would have for years to come. After scouring Pinterest for a couple of hours, I found a pixelated world map quilt I wanted to make. I contacted the designer and asked to purchase the pattern. Unfortunately, she does not sell the pattern. So I began scouring again. I found nothing I liked. Thankfully, a wonderful woman at our church, who has agreed to teach me how to quilt, found a great pattern. I liked it a lot because it is easily personalized. (I'll be adding photos of my progress as I go along.)

Today I am starting my first quilt. I am excited to have something tangible to do during this season of waiting. I am excited that when this season is done, I will have something to wrap my kids in and keep them warm. I am excited to pray for them and for us as I work on this quilt, for when God knits our family together through adoption. Can you tell I'm excited?

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

I don't know if you've ever driven through a long tunnel, but I remember as a kid always feeling a little uneasy. It was typically as we were driving through a mountain that we encountered these tunnels. I would imagine the entire mountain caving in on us as we were driving through its belly. From the moment we entered the tunnel to the moment we left, I slackened my seatbelt so I could lean towards the middle of the car to have a clear view of what was ahead. The uneasiness would always lighten when I saw the pinhole of light coming from the end of the tunnel. That's how I feel now.

I've been walking through a bit of darkness and a little bit of feeling hopeless amidst the sea of paperwork that needs to be done. One of my (MANY) failings is that I don't finish a lot of things I start, and I was very fearful I wouldn't have the drive to finish all of this paperwork. But God being so gracious has helped me to press on. He gave me hope it could be done when I struggled to believe and a husband who encouraged me to press on.

No--the dossier is not done, but after being in the dark for some weeks, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. My soul feels lighter knowing this hurdle is almost done. In a small way, I have begun to cherish this season of our adoption because I know what comes next—waiting. 

A Dossier Update

I keep thinking I'm going to do better at updating this blog, but then there's nothing to write. I don't want to bore you with the mundane, but that's where we find ourselves most often. We've been plugging away at our dossier paperwork. I had hoped to get everything done by the end of July, but that's just one more thing I can chalk up being out of my control.

Tomorrow afternoon we are going in to do fingerprinting for our visa request for our child(ren). I am hoping we will get a competent government employee who is able to get everything right the first time. It might be too much to ask!

Other than that, Brian has been busy with work, I've been busy with paperwork, I need to clean my desk and I'm losing the battle to weeds in my yard. I honestly cannot believe that it is almost August! Where does time go?? Ok...rambling aside, I appreciate all of you asking how the adoption process is going and look forward to having a better report once our dossier is getting close to being done.

Paper Pregnancy

On Sunday night, we finished out paperwork for the home study. It was quite the labor of love. It included things that needed notarization, lots of checking boxes, many signatures and dates, and the longest paper I have written since I left college (10 pages to be exact). I even had to get a physical for this thing—drug test and TB shot included. I am really starting to understand the term 'paper pregnancy'*. 

We had a brief scare today because when we entered our tracking number for the envelope, and it didn't show up. We thought it may have been lost. We prayed and waited. Then, as if the USPS website came back to life in an instant, our package showed that it would be delivered either today (Tuesday) or tomorrow (Wednesday). Yay!

Next up: We will schedule three interview sessions - two at the Bethany offices and one in our home. These interviews, along with the paperwork we sent in, will be the basis for our dossier. 

Prayer Requests:

• That we would be able to schedule these interviews soon and they would go smoothly.
• For my job - My hours were cut from two days down to one. This is to be expected as Office Max Naperville is closing, but still unfortunate. I'm praying the Lord will provide another job, equally as awesome as this one.

*Paper pregnancy is the term used to refer to the paperwork in the adoption process that leads to the child(ren) adopted, much like a physical pregnancy.

Adoption 101

Last night we had our first class through our agency, Bethany Christian Services. It was a good time of review, as most of what was discussed, we already had considered and talked about between the two of us. I especially appreciated seeing and hearing from other couples that are now walking down the same path we are. 

While we were there, we received a monstrous envelope filled with paperwork we will need to fill out (basically writing a novel) and legal documents we will need to hunt down in order to begin the home study process. 

We are excited to start this next step in our journey. This is a big one as it will result in our dossier (informative essay/documents sent to South Africa) being completed. It is my understanding that once we've finished this step, we will be eligible to be placed with a child!

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Prayer Requests

• That we would be able to set aside large chunks of our time to complete this paperwork and send it in.
• That the Lord would protect us as we are seeking to do something we know He has called us to.
• As we were driving home last night, our car died and had to be towed to a shop. Please pray that repairs would be quick and cheap, and that we would not be discouraged by disruptions in day-to-day life during this exceptionally stressful and hectic time.