Last Wednesday, March 20th we were in Denver.
We were there for Spring Break, a ski trip. It was planned before we knew we were going to be able to start this adoption journey. As a matter of fact I was almost sick when we began the journey in December, knowing that the cost of this trip (most of which had already been paid - air & hotel at that point) could have gone toward the adoption. But of course it was a fabulous time for Jeff, Abi, Eli and I and I am so thankful for the time we had together.
Okay, so anyway, there we were in Denver, just 30 minutes away from our adoption agency (I'll post about them soon) when I called our case worker. She had news... this was new. You see usually when I call there is nothing for her to tell me. It's really more for my peace of mind that a I call. It's really just another thing I can do to say that I've done all I can do. Okay, so that Wednesday, she had news.
WE COULD OFFICIALLY START PAPERWORK!
We were given the go-ahead to start official paperwork with the agency and to start a homestudy. I was nearly giddy! I mean who in their right mind is eager to start filling out paperwork and pay thousands of dollars? A mother whose child is halfway around the world waiting to come home, that's who.
So I called the homestudy agency we had decided on and found out they were no longer doing international homestudies, but they recommended me to another agency who agreed to work with us.
On Thursday I spoke with the director at our adoption agency and paid our first money toward bringing Our Girl home. It was the happiest $250 I have spent since, well, since we brought Eli home I'd reckon! The director also emailed us the first set of paperwork to fill out.
That same day I received paperwork from the homestudy agency to fill out. So there I was with two sets of about 50 pages each of paperwork to fill out and I was EXCITED! Yes, really!
So we returned the first set of paperwork - the paperwork to the adoption agency on Tuesday, 3/26 after all of the notarizing and such were finished, and sent along a hefty check - $2650. We are just now finishing up the other set of paperwork for the homestudy agency. It should be notarized and completed on Monday and mailed in with two more checks, for $500 (application fee) and $38 (OSBI reports).
So, the question you may be asking yourself (and tempted to ask me) is "When will she be home?" The real answer is "I wish I knew." But the vague, incomplete and speculative answer is this. The director of our agency said that best case scenario it could be 9 months - that would be Christmas 2013. Then he braced me for his worst case scenario, which was 2 years. I promise I'll update you as I know more.
For now please pray for God's timing, and if it is His will for the best case scenario above :) . We want her home. It is so hard to know your child is growing up without you. It is even harder to know it is out of your control.
If you feel so led, you may donate financially to bringing Our Girl home. As you can see we have raised (89% saved, 11% donated) $21,715 of the $35,000 we estimate we will need to bring her home. This is 62% funded. We are grateful for any amount you feel led to donate. We covet your prayers for us even more as we go through this process, knowing full well we still have much waiting to do.
