And it's off!

Texas!!  Yeeeehaw!

Our home study was (finally) completed and we mailed out our I-800A to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Lewisburg, Texas on Thursday.   It's the first step in many, many between 2 complex governments. Basically, this step in the process gets us approval from the U.S. government to adopt a child from another country and eventually apply for his citizenship.   It's approval to adopt a child.....not specifically our boy.  The specific approval for him will happen many months from now.  Anyhoooo...that glorious first packet is outta here and that's all that matters right now.   It arrived at 10:28am Friday morning to their mail room courtesy of the local FedEx man.  Hallelujah!   Praise the Lord!   Pass the Tylenol.

Ok, now what happens?

We wait.  Like another 45 days to get fingerprinted again  (as if one time thru the FBI itself wasn't enough) and then on average, about 2 weeks later we will (hopefully) get our approval from USCIS.   After that, we'll need to get our running shoes on and get a ton of documents notarized, certified, and authenticated in each local county, the state, the country....blah, blah, blah.    Are we having fun yet?

If you really want to understand how all this works and see a timeline of the next year ahead, I have found this website easy to navigate and a wealth of resources:  http://www.china-adoption-online.com/china-adoption-program.html

In the meantime, I'm actually getting some things done around here.   Like everything that's been on hold for the last 2 months.    Kicking up my cooking show schedule,  get taxes done, tagging about 200 items for an upcoming consignment sale, clean my house from top to bottom, paint a few rooms, lose 10 pounds for spring break, prepare for a huge school fundraiser with Pampered Chef, catch up on some sleep sometime in between all of that....  Shoot, I won't even have time to even think about that next step, right???

While you're out here looking, take a minute to vote on a middle name for our boy.     It's on the right side bar.  We're pretty certain that his first name will be Nathaniel (meaning gift from God).    Oh, and when you vote, make sure you practice it out loud like I do.    To do this, you have to yell his name across the house like you would your own child when either a)  they are in trouble or  b) dinner is ready and they have their headphones on.   It's the true test of naming a child, isn't it?     ;-) 

Now, before I forget, where's that Tylenol?  

"Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours."

Last week, both of my kids complained about a few dinners I had made.  (this is par for the course with kids who have a Pampered Chef Mommy who tries to "experiment" in the kitchen)   Yet, even though it wasn't their favorite, they didn't go to bed hungry.   

A few days later, both of them came down with the funk that's been going around school.  So I debated with myself:  Do I pay the $30 copay per child for what could be a virus that the doctor couldn't do anything about or bring them in??    Good thing I did, as they had some weird bacterial mess that could have quickly turned into pnemonia.  Whew!  Crisis averted.

In the middle of all of this, I saw a video of a friend of mine who just picked up her precious son in China.  He was in the exact same orphanage that our son is currently waiting in, so it  hit home.  He was clearly malnourished....hair missing in patches... just skin and bones.  At almost 4 years old, all he'd ever eaten was rice and milk (from a bottle!!!!) and congee, a form of rice porridge.  While my two children don't even know what hungry is and have antibiotics to cure them of their recent illness,  this boy was obviously in need of the basics such as proper food and medical care.  

I had a pit in my stomach.  My heart broke. 

I was furious and have been ever since. 

Why?  Well, let's see:

First off, I have a photo of a boy in my hands who is my SON.    He doesn't know it yet, but I sure do. If it was your kid sitting there waiting, believe me, it would light a fire under your tushie, too.  I'm a Mom. It's my God-given mission to make sure my children are taken care of.    Yes, all three of them.   For some reason, I can't get certain people to understand this phenomenon....that my urgency is out of love and concern for him!    

We're still not done with our home study. We only have one (ridiculous) paper we are waiting on from a medical "professional" (ha, loosely stated!)  who says that they have been on the receiving end of the adoption process themselves and would be happy to expedite things for the sake of the child.  Funny, sometimes those people you think you can count on like to talk a big talk, don't they?

Every day counts.  What could easily be a much shorter and less painful process takes close to forever because it appears that nobody can do what they said they'd do when they said they'd do it.    Every day some moron decides not to do their job, it delays the care of our son.   And there's nothing we can do about it.  

We haven't even started our back-and-forth paperwork between the 2 governments, yet.  Oh, joy.   

Although some of these people seem to be on a power trip of their own and think they are in control of our fate, I know better.  My faithful God is really the one in control.  He's got all of the timing on this down perfectly.  After all, this little boy was HIS son first.   Yes, I'm holding on to what I know is truth and praying non-stop to the One who I know I can really, really count on. 

Satan, be gone.  And take all of your unsupportive, money-hungry, lazy, dishonest, lukewarm, self-serving, non-responsive, workers with you.  
 

Obedience

"Oh, that's nice.  I'm happy for you."  *blank stare*

I'm experiencing that a lot lately.  I'm finding that folks are either completly supportive of bringing this boy home or lukewarm.     Looking back on it, I know truthfully that I was lukewarm many times when I heard of folks adopting, too.

First of all, let me go into a little more detail. Ya see, throughout most of the 37 years of my life, I said in a well-meaning tone  "Oh, God will provide".   Then, when it REALLY came down to it, I worried, fretted, and tried to take control of things myself.   I can't tell you how many times I thought I was being obedient to His calling, yet, I came up with some sort of good excuse to do my own thing instead    I had to rationalize everything.   I would say to myself :   "Well, I can't do it because I don't have the money (and there's surely no way God will provide that much!)"   or....  "I can't do it because I don't have the time, sanity, patience...whatever..it's nice, just not something for me. "   

No, I won't lie.  I have had doubts.  I've totally freaked out, actually.  I mean, how on earth can we afford international adoption?  I already have 2 precious daughters, why have  3rd child, especially one that will have some major issues?   What on earth are we getting ourselves into?  What if...why...how....huh???

Ok, people.  Here it is:  Quit making excuses.   Seriously.  For those of you who claim to be Christ-followers out there, why do you constantly keep doubting and keep rationalizing the disobedience to your calling?  Step out of the boat, folks.  No, it may not feel "warm and fuzzy".   It may even be down-right scary.   I'm not saying adoption is for everyone.  I'm just saying that this is CLEARLY God's calling for our family and I want to encourage everyone to truly trust in the Lord when He summons you to something. Even if it seems like it's coming from left field.   Actions speak louder than words.  It's time for us to LIVE our faith not just talk about it.  Let me share something with you:

#1 -We needed a certain amount for our deposit and first agency fee.  We refinanced our mortgage for a wayyyy lower interest rate and got a refund in escrow for the EXACT amount of that first fee.
#2-    We needed a certain amount for the home study and dossier fee.  Then we received an incredible and generous gift that covered that amount EXACTLY.

Coincidence?  I think not.


The Lord has some big plans for this child.  Check your temperature,  I hope you won't be lukewarm.