What Now?

Aside from the fact that I have what I'm calling adoption induced ADHD which by the way is almost identical to pregnancy induced ADHD, I'm trying to get it together so we can keep this ball rolling.


1. As I said in the previous post, we are leaving for Bulgaria on August 9th. I have to get everything in order for Andrew before that trip. He'll be staying with grandparents and my sister, and this is the longest we've ever left him by a long shot so yeah . . .  At 5:30 this morning I woke up in a panic because summer is almost over, and I haven't scheduled Andrew for a dental appointment yet. I also haven't even looked at his uniforms for next year, and I need to get his passport photo taken for trip 2 since we plan on him going with us. ADHD folks!


2. We are submitting our I800 to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today. It's the first step in legally bringing our daughter home to become a U.S. Citizen. Please pray that the forms get accepted without any requests for further evidence. Once it is accepted we are issued something called Article 5 which gives the MOJ in Bulgaria the signal to move forward. Huge over simplification here, but you get the gist. We can't go anywhere (i.e. get a court date) until the I800 is accepted.


3. We are meeting with our social worker on Saturday morning to finish up this home study which may or may not ever be used. It's a just in case we need it sort of thing. We're praying we don't need it.


4. Next Wednesday, we're getting fingerprinted for the FBI again. I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It. My last two sets have been thrown out due to "poor quality". Yes, I've gone to qualified fingerprint techs. Yes, they passed on the computer. No, the FBI did not accept them. My home study agency had me go a different route for the home study, but we have no choice but to do these for court. Once again, prayers are appreciated.


5. We also have to get local criminal clearances once we get back from trip 1.


6. We have doctor's appointments again when we return. This time with a different doctor who doesn't think it's completely unreasonable to be asked to notarize something.


7. Our court date will be given once the MOJ in Bulgaria signs off on our Article 5. We don't appear for court. But we do need to be sure that they have all the necessary documents (FBI clearances, local criminal clearance, and doctor's letters) for court.


8. Once we pass court, our daughter is legally ours, and we wait for a few other things to be issued (court decree) before we can travel to pick her up.


I'm not sure how much sense all of this makes. But I think it's clear that there is still a lot to be done in order for us to pass court and get to trip two. It's easy for me to get all worked up about it and worry myself sick. Last night at church we had the privilege of having Doyle Dykes, one of the greatest guitar players in the world, come and play for us (seriously, if you haven't heard him play look him up). One of the first songs he played was "Great is Thy Faithfulness". It's been years since that song has crossed my mind, but as I sat there listening with words were flowing through my head one line from the chorus resonated with me, "All I have needed thy hand hath provided - Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me!"


God has brought us so far. You can see it as a series of miracles or one big miracle that is still unfolding, but He has been faithful. And I have to believe that He will continue to be faithful throughout the rest of this journey.


"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" Ephesians 3:20 NKJV