I haven't been feeling so positive about the adoption lately, but I finally figured out today that it is the Dr. appointments and the whole immunization issue that is overwhelming me. I realized this today when our Agency wrote to tell me that they really don't expect the Immunization thing to be an issue. And if it is, we will be able to appeal. We also have the option (which I had forgotten about) of having the kids' blood drawn in order to prove immunity. So I am feeling much more free tonight and ready to tackle more of this mountain of paperwork!
First on the agenda is getting Anna off to Africa. She leaves 1 week from this Saturday! Wow! I have broken down a few times, but overall, I am so excited for her and wish I was going too! But she reminds me that I have an adoption to pursue...my own road of purpose. It's odd though, Anna had this feeling she should only go for 6 months to Africa...this was back last Fall, before we had even thought of adopting. But instead of going with her gut feeling, she went ahead and told the friend she is going with that she would do the 8 months. But the closer it got to her leaving, the more uneasy she felt. So she changed her plane tickets...and is coming home in March. How odd that that will most likely line up with around the time that we are getting the referral for our girl....and making travel plans for Hungary. This way we will have time to spend with Anna before we go, and we will also know she is home safe and is here for the others while we are gone. Strange how things continue to work out.
That is pretty much it for today. A boring post, but I wanted to write something in order to keep logging our journey.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
He Has This
It's been a while since I have written. That surely does not mean that nothing has been happening, only that I haven't had time to journal it. We had an incredibly wonderful meeting a couple of weeks ago at our Adoption Agency with the Director....just to meet her and to go over our Home Study requirements.
First of all, on the day of the meeting, I was at work until 12:30 p.m. We had our meeting set for 3:30. Plenty of time, right? Well, the traffic could not have been worse in downtown Chicago that day and it took me an hour to get home! Bumper to bumper stopped. Me fidgeting, tapping frantically on the steering wheel and at one point almost crying...and then, in an instant, I looked up and staring back at me was the license plate of the car in front of me- It said Hungry 1. Really. It did. And the rest of my long ride home was peaceful and spent in praise. God, in His creative way, had just communicated to me that He "had this". I didn't need to force anything. He just really had it.
By the time Tony and I got in the car to drive up North, it was after 2:30 but we thought no problem, we still had 50 minutes. Well it was smooth sailing until we were 10 minutes away from the agency and then we hit a sign that said, "Road Closed...Detour." Are you kidding me? So we took the detour down some country road, got stuck in jam packed traffic from a factory letting out, and ended up lost. We finally called the agency (after the cell phone disconnected twice) and got directions. By then we were a wreck, nervous and a bit mentally disorganized...not really the way you want to present yourselves as pre-adoptive parents! But when we got there, everyone was so welcoming, so understanding, so down to earth...and it all just flowed so smoothly. We read through information, we laughed and joked and learned a lot about the people's lives at the agency...and of course many of them are adoptive parents themselves. We walked out 2 hours later, overwhelmed, but peaceful. We felt cared for... and very sure that this is the road God is leading us down. Very sure that He "has it".
We have hit a couple of roadblocks since then. A huge decision about Doctors, immunizations. The State requires the kids' immunization records as part of our home study, in order to approve us for adoption in Illinois. We found out that our Pediatrician's office who has our kids medical records from when they had their vaccines has shredded those records because we haven't been there in the last five years!! (I could write a whole blog post on just that! But that's another story!) We need a Dr. willing to navigate us through this dilemma and today, a friend (who we don't talk to all that often but who just "happened" to come by) thinks she may know someone who will help us. We are waiting for the word on that.
Also, much of our paperwork needs to be notarized. The banks can't do it, as they can't come with us to Dr. appointments and psychological examinations etc... to witness our signatures. We have checked with our credit union and they don't really do adoptions. This was weighing heavily on us. We fretted, we worried, we desperately asked around. It kept me awake at night. And then, we decided, to pray (duh.) Something we say to each other a lot these days is, "well, this is God's problem. He has to figure it out or we can't move on." As soon as we rested in that, out of the blue, we found out that one of our very best friends, who Tony sees almost weekly, is a Notary and we didn't even know it! Another confirmation that God is leading us. Another whisper to press on.
It has been an incredible God journey already! Some days we are up, some days we are down, some days we are neutral. Some days we are panic stricken, some days we are peaceful. There are days we are positive this is all going to work out, and there are days we cry, "Lord, help us in our unbelief!" But every time we find ourselves facing a road block, and we have done all we know to do...When we have lifted it up and then most importantly laid it down, the insurmountable mountain crumbles and the path opens anew. And although it is sometimes leading in a totally different direction from what we expected or even wanted, one thing is for certain--God is there and He is reminding us that He can do immeasurably more then anything we can ask or imagine. And we don't have to worry. Because He "has this". He really, really "has this".
First of all, on the day of the meeting, I was at work until 12:30 p.m. We had our meeting set for 3:30. Plenty of time, right? Well, the traffic could not have been worse in downtown Chicago that day and it took me an hour to get home! Bumper to bumper stopped. Me fidgeting, tapping frantically on the steering wheel and at one point almost crying...and then, in an instant, I looked up and staring back at me was the license plate of the car in front of me- It said Hungry 1. Really. It did. And the rest of my long ride home was peaceful and spent in praise. God, in His creative way, had just communicated to me that He "had this". I didn't need to force anything. He just really had it.
By the time Tony and I got in the car to drive up North, it was after 2:30 but we thought no problem, we still had 50 minutes. Well it was smooth sailing until we were 10 minutes away from the agency and then we hit a sign that said, "Road Closed...Detour." Are you kidding me? So we took the detour down some country road, got stuck in jam packed traffic from a factory letting out, and ended up lost. We finally called the agency (after the cell phone disconnected twice) and got directions. By then we were a wreck, nervous and a bit mentally disorganized...not really the way you want to present yourselves as pre-adoptive parents! But when we got there, everyone was so welcoming, so understanding, so down to earth...and it all just flowed so smoothly. We read through information, we laughed and joked and learned a lot about the people's lives at the agency...and of course many of them are adoptive parents themselves. We walked out 2 hours later, overwhelmed, but peaceful. We felt cared for... and very sure that this is the road God is leading us down. Very sure that He "has it".
We have hit a couple of roadblocks since then. A huge decision about Doctors, immunizations. The State requires the kids' immunization records as part of our home study, in order to approve us for adoption in Illinois. We found out that our Pediatrician's office who has our kids medical records from when they had their vaccines has shredded those records because we haven't been there in the last five years!! (I could write a whole blog post on just that! But that's another story!) We need a Dr. willing to navigate us through this dilemma and today, a friend (who we don't talk to all that often but who just "happened" to come by) thinks she may know someone who will help us. We are waiting for the word on that.
Also, much of our paperwork needs to be notarized. The banks can't do it, as they can't come with us to Dr. appointments and psychological examinations etc... to witness our signatures. We have checked with our credit union and they don't really do adoptions. This was weighing heavily on us. We fretted, we worried, we desperately asked around. It kept me awake at night. And then, we decided, to pray (duh.) Something we say to each other a lot these days is, "well, this is God's problem. He has to figure it out or we can't move on." As soon as we rested in that, out of the blue, we found out that one of our very best friends, who Tony sees almost weekly, is a Notary and we didn't even know it! Another confirmation that God is leading us. Another whisper to press on.
It has been an incredible God journey already! Some days we are up, some days we are down, some days we are neutral. Some days we are panic stricken, some days we are peaceful. There are days we are positive this is all going to work out, and there are days we cry, "Lord, help us in our unbelief!" But every time we find ourselves facing a road block, and we have done all we know to do...When we have lifted it up and then most importantly laid it down, the insurmountable mountain crumbles and the path opens anew. And although it is sometimes leading in a totally different direction from what we expected or even wanted, one thing is for certain--God is there and He is reminding us that He can do immeasurably more then anything we can ask or imagine. And we don't have to worry. Because He "has this". He really, really "has this".
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