We finally received our home study a couple weeks ago, and I quickly ran over to FedEx to send it along with the I600-a application to the USCIS office in Texas so that we could get that part of the process going. It was pretty cool to write a check to the Dept. of Homeland Security :) I've heard it takes about two weeks for them to send our appointment date and time and then another two weeks until we actually go to do our fringerprints.
So our case worker at our agency sent the Dossier packet at that time. I was wondering what additional documents could possibly be needed, b/c it seemed like we had done every background check, every piece of information that told anything about us. I was wrong. Unfortunately, since our home study took over ten weeks to be written, revised, notarized and sent to us, many of our documents have to be redone b/c everything needs to have been completed and notarized within 6 months of sending to our agency. So now we're working on new birth certificates and marriage license, new medical forms, and new employment letters. We also have to get letters from the bank stating we're in good standing, and also go to the police department to get a letter from them saying we're in good standing, b/c I guess local and federal fingerprints are not enough.
It's a crazy process, and it's very easy to get frustrated with it all, but there is a little girl at the other end of all of this that needs a home and who is desperately wanted. I told Peter a couple days back, when we were talking about some crazy thing we had to do, that it was hard to stand up for the process and justify to others that all this makes sense. He said "you don't have to". That's so true. Much of it doesn't make sense, and sometimes it's hard to believe that parts of this paperwork and this process are really necessary to bring a little girl into a safe and loving home. The only thing I can say to justify it is that this is an inter-country relationship between the US and Ethiopia, much of it is necessary to keep the peace. The US wants to make sure that these children being adopted into American families are legally orphaned and/or abandoned. Ethiopia wants to insure that these children are going to safe and loving homes. Governments in other countries, especially African countries do not operate like our US government, so that adds to the time everything takes. All Peter and I can do is remember who is orchestrating this whole thing. He is in control of our process, and however long it takes is however long He needs to prepare us and Elynne to join as a family.
Prayer Requests:
- Adoption Finances - We had a large portion saved, but it is now dwindling. We have a small fee due to our agency when we submit our dossier in a few months. We pray we are able to raise that money and avoid taking out a loan or using our credit card.
- Peace about the Timing - When we started the process, the timing to have our little one home was estimated at 2 years. That has probably increased now b/c of more and more families adopting from Ethiopia. We pray our process will move quickly, but I pray I will let go of this timeline I have in my head and accept that God knows what He's doing and we will have our little Elynne in His perfect time.
