Good News in our adoption journey! We have finally completed step one. We are officially three months into the 2-3 year process. That three month step, unfortunately, took fifteen months to complete. I am very thankful that we did not have a specific child in mind from the beginning, as these delays would have been agonizing. We are now waiting to see if this document will pass inspection by the U.S. government, please pray that it will not have to be revised. If it needs any revisions, there is only a brief window for them to be completed in without having to reapply with a new costly fee. Pray that we find helpfulness and cooperation with the people that are in charge of these things.
We now have documents from three states, two territories, and two federal agencies proving that we are not criminals. Medical tests proving we do not have tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, or anything else that the doctors know of. Yet we still need another paper signed by a doctor and yet another set of fingerprints to be done if I am not mistaken. Some of these things seem a bit redundant to us, but I told our adoption agency that it is actually exciting getting to fill out this next round of paperwork since it means we are moving forward with this process.
Both Abe and myself will be turning thirty this year, if we had waited this long to start the process we could have chosen a different country as some countries have a requirement that both parents be over thirty years old. As it is we are planning on sticking with the country we have chosen, their program seems very stable and well run, compared to some. We still meet the requirements to adopt. We have received many generous gifts from friends, family, and even strangers! Many people are praying for us and are excited for us, we are too. We have been able to take on some additional jobs (cat and dog sitting, graphic design, chauffeuring, and selling Jamberry nail wraps so far) and save back money. All told we already have about a third of what we expect we will need. Pray that God will prepare us to be the best parents we can be to a child or siblings that come from a background of pain or neglect.
