Waiting on Immigration

I know it may seem like forever since I have posted on this blog. It feels that way to me too. Due to various circumstances over the past few months, we were not able to get our finalized home study until 2 weeks ago.

So...... drum roll please...... today I finally got to mail off our completed paperwork to USCIS (Immigration). After Mike and I reviewed every page probably 10 times (each), we wrote the check, scanned the document (I figure it is always safe to make a copy before we send anything to the government), and placed it in the mail to Dallas, TX today. Funny how we were living in Texas when we first thought we wanted to adopt from the Philippines, and now our paperwork is going back there.

Now we can only pray that every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed. We can't fix anything now. We have been told that this part of the process usually takes 4-6 weeks, maybe 2 months, although some people have said it can go much longer. But as soon as we get it back, we can send our dossier on over to the Philippines. Hopefully it will land on someone's desk there in the great state of Texas, and he or she will exclaim, "There never was a couple more suited for adoption; it is so sad they even need to complete all this paperwork. They don't need to get fingerprinted; just send them an approval letter today." Okay, do I really expect that to happen? No. :) But it would be nice if someone were to look it over and start the process for us right away instead of our form getting stuck in a pile somewhere. That is possible right? It isn't too much to ask. Believe me, I will be asking. My prayers followed that package as it went behind the counter at the post office, and my prayers will keep going heavenward over the next few weeks.

Maybe in Frank Peretti style, an angel will slip the application right to the top of the stack and hand walk it down the hall. (Hey don't judge me. We have no idea what happens in the spirit world.)

But I digress. Please excuse these ramblings as my fun way to relieve the pressure that it is out of my hands for now. As much as I jest, I do believe that God's timing is perfect for our family and for our hopeful new addition. I trust his plan, and I will try to wait patiently. I am not always successful with the patient part, but I am trying.