The Ups and Downs. Wow.

Wow, this process has continued to be a series of ups and downs.

After last week's stress, I was literally crying out to God asking for His help. Specifically, I asked Him to provide a notary for us that was able to be flexible and travel to appointments, and could maybe be our "person" through the entire process.  The next morning, I texted a super organized, office-y professional friend, to ask if she or someone in our church was a notary.  She surprised me by telling me she was considering getting licensed.  After hearing our need, she applied for licensing the next day, submitted the paperwork the day after, and has her license now to walk with us through this whole thing.

Wow.  What a gracious God.  What a gift He gave me, hearing my prayer, and dropping someone in my lap who is so loving and compassionate to us and our growing family.

The phone calls continue, and I still need to track down a new doctor.  Somehow the process doesn't seem nearly as intimidating as it once did.

I called one doctor today, and was told, snobbishly, that "We aren't interested in accepting that kind of appointment."  Ok, then! I am praying for a doctor who has a heart for kiddos and is willing to help us bring our child home, even though our family will not be long-term patients.

Also this week was a friend's memorial service, a doctor visit with my cousin, a super bowl party, visiting missionaries, Bible study, the kiddos' normal schedule of Tae Kwon Do class and Bible club, shopping with my grandma, church, a baby-shower-planning meeting, and our first meeting with our social worker. Whew.

Friday night rolled around and I stopped functioning.  I was exhausted, and simply couldn't "people" anymore.

We also have a perfect example of why we aren't telling people about our adoption.  Because of an ice storm a ways north of us, we had to reschedule our social worker meeting from Saturday morning to Monday night.  If the world knew about our adoption, we would have to explain 50 times over why our meeting didn't take place Saturday.  Instead, we rescheduled quietly, and it was less headache for everyone. We will let people in on the more exciting part of the process. This paper-chasing part is somewhat anticlimactic.

Earlier, someone insisted on misunderstanding me, drew erroneous conclusions about me, and told me I was unloving, unforgiving, and not a Christian. It was so hard, especially because it happened in front of the kiddos.

It gave us a chance, though, to talk with the kiddos about emotions.  We discussed what emotions were present during the earlier conversation (sadness, anger) and what were good ways to express these feelings.

Philip and I are concerned that maybe we don't let the kiddos express emotions enough (required adoption training: it's making us evaluate and think!). However, when asked what to do when we feel angry, our 4-year-old son immediately piped with with "Pray to God about it!"

Wow.  Praise God that His truth and love is having impact in my kiddos' lives. That was not the answer we were expecting, but we are so grateful that they are learning to turn to God and learning that He cares for them.

This evening was our first visit with our social worker.  So many emotions in one day.  From crying because of someone's anger towards me and unkind words, to apprehension surrounding the meeting.

God, in His goodness, answered prayer. I really love our social worker! From our previous communication, I have been getting the vibe that she is pretty chill.  I was so grateful to find out that she is actually quite normal! She is insanely driven, busy, organized and motivated, but with a realistic outlook, a kind nature, and a down to earth personality.  She is very relatable.  She also loves coffee as much as we do.   I feel really comfortable with her, and I actually am excited to work with her to make all this happen.  She isn't someone who makes you feel pressured or as if she's holding you to some standard, which is good. Ha!

I learned about an app called Tiny Scanner, where you can photograph something with your phone, and have it emailed as a scanned attachment.  Woot woot! This makes life so much easier for those of us that are technologically challenged!

So,  I have about 1/3 of the paperwork in.  We are in process of background checks, which will need fingerprinting.  There is some financial paperwork that needs done, some CPA stuff, and the dreaded medical stuff left.  Otherwise, that's about it! We set up meeting times for the actually home visit and followup appointment.  The goal is to have everything done and the actual Home Study written by the end of March, first of April.  Wow, that seems fast.

Once our home study is written, we can submit our paperwork to India.

Chat later.