Drama On the Adoption Front

Thursday wasn't the greatest day in the world for a number of reasons. The kids were a little on the wild side (who can blame them?), I had a very thick three ring binder full of reports that had to be organized so I could finish my end-of-the-year reports, and it felt like the week was dragging and so was I.

So while the kids were in P.E., I ran to the store to grab some very dark chocolate to help me deal, because chocolate fixes everything. When I got back to the school I decided to check my email before the kids came back. The first email I saw was one from the girl in charge of reviewing the home studies at our adoption agency. I figured it was just telling us that our home study update had been approved. Wrong! The girl said that they couldn't finalize our update because our FBI fingerprints weren't current. Say what?!? I had emailed our caseworker twice about that, the first time back in February (because I'm OCD), and she had said we didn't need to redo them yet.

We need our home study update finished by June so we can apply to USCIS to have our electronic fingerprints (different from the FBI fingerprints) redone in time to keep from being dropped from the registry. Last time it took almost three months to get both of our fingerprints back from the FBI. It was a very traumatizing experience (slight but necessary exaggeration), and one that could severely mess things up if we had to go through it again. At this point we literally don't have time to deal with doing FBI fingerprints (no exaggeration there). And being dropped off the registry would basically stop the adoption. Not even a remote possibility.

Freak out!!!

Thank goodness I save emails in an organized way (in other words Patrick should thank the Good Lord above I'm OCD). I hunted down the both of the ones that said we didn't have to redo our fingerprints and forwarded them to the agency. At that point I had to get the kids and maintain my composure. I'm sure they could tell I was upset though. I kept sighing and shaking my head and shoving eating dark chocolate down my throat . . . you know just maintaining my composure and all. As you can tell I'm a champ at hiding my emotions. I'm pretty sure the kids thought I was certifiable.

It was at this point it occurred to me that I had two choices. I could either (1) continue to flip out (which is generally my weapon of choice), or I could (2) put it in God's hands. I decided to put it where it belonged . . . in God's hands. It wasn't a huge dramatic moment. I didn't fall to my knees and scream, "It's Yours all Yours!" (the kids already question my sanity) I didn't necessarily feel 100% better, but I knew (and know) that God knows what He's doing. So I left it at that and continued to eat dark chocolate because really eating an entire bag is very healthy.

I'm not kidding when I say that within the next five minutes I got a very nice email from the agency apologizing for the confusion, and stating that an exception had been made. Thank you God!!!

The whole crazy dramatic incident was less than an hour long, but it served as a very clear reminder of Who is in control. God has come through for us in a huge way every step of this process. I'm not saying that every minute has been easy, but He's made a way when and where a way almost didn't seem possible. I'm sure that this isn't the last challenge we'll face. Some may be smaller, some may be larger, but I know that God will come through with every single one.

Now the next time I flip would someone please reference this post? I can guarantee I'll forget.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!