Now what?

The infamous question… now what? So here is what we ‘know’ or anticipate to be happening now. On September 1st our dossier is supposed to be submitted to the regional operator for registration. We are fully expecting there to be issues with us registering. Our homestudy agency had a name change in the middle of getting our dossier ready. They went from Lifelink/Bensenville Home Society to Lifelink International Adoption which is a subsidiary of Lutheran Social Services. The likelihood that the papers will suffice given the differing names is about slim to none. So we need to find out exactly that the regional operator requests so that we can begin to get this whole situation fixed. We would much rather get it all worked out now instead of between trips one and two when we are anxiously awaiting court.

We also need to clarify that we aren’t putting everything on hold until harvest is over, but we have asked that we get registered before getting any more information on potential referrals. It is just better for us to get through the registration process and then move forward. For my city slicker friends (heck for my country friends like me that were clueless), I know how hard it is to understand that one week (actually it ends up being 10 days) away from something could be such a big deal. I have had numerous people ask why we couldn’t find someone else to help out or why the crops can’t wait until we get back. Ohhh if it were only that easy. During harvest, Justin will often times get home at midnight and be back out by 6 a.m. for days on end. The window of opportunity to get the crops out of the field is rather small. And guess what? No crops = no money = no travel to Russia. I am totally downplaying this in order to spare you the details, but believe me when I say the timing has to be perfect in order for us to travel in the next couple of months. And I have already warned Justin that I will be pushing hard for him to get finished as early as possible. During harvest, I usually welcome a day of rain just so I can see him. Or I will try to get him to stay home an hour or two longer so he can get a bit more sleep. Not this year! I am going to be setting his alarm FOR him and giving him caffeine like it is going out of style! Lol

The final thing on my heart today is a comment from a dear sweet fellow blogger. I will forever have the picture and information of a little boy born March 6, 2009 from Vladivostock, Russia in my heart. At first this was not sitting well with me. But I now have a new perspective after this amazing insight. It read: “I know God is in control, and maybe He needed to "introduce" you two into this little boy's life so that you could pray for him...maybe you're the only ones praying for him specifically. Just think...you HAVE taken this boy in....you are praying for him, and sometimes that's better than anything else!” Thank you for the peace you helped me find Liz! I am grateful!