Let the Paperchase Begin!

We are officially in the paperchase! It's somewhat surreal. Before we came to the decision to adopt, I spent many hours reading blogs of those that have traveled this road before us. I remember reading the funny and often harrying posts about the paperchase that must be experienced before bringing home your child.

Well, here we are. Strange really.

Our contracts are signed, and we have finished most our course work given to us by AGCI. We've received and worked through the papers given to us by our homestudy agency, we've scheduled the doctor appointments, the background checks, and the fingerprinting appointments.

Just as I was able to take a short breath in, our dossier packet, along with our last workbook came in the mail today!

Unfortunately, for me and those who live in my house, I am one of those 'Type A' personalities. Now that we've made the decision to adopt, there is this underlying sense of urgency to get everything done as quickly as possible!

I have a tendency to get lost in the 'to-do's' and the appointments, the deadlines, and the paperwork, but as I was reading yet another blog this evening, I found a second wind. This is an excerpt from the Strobel family's first trip to meet their daughter just a few days ago.

"We met our daughter, Argene (pronounced Are gen eee with a hard g) yesterday and right after her Special Mother placed her in our arms she looked right up at me and smiled. Our tears and emotions flowed as we held her and realized that God brought us through nearly 2.5years of paperwork, waiting and now traveling half way around the world to connect us to one sweet little one who needs us and needs a family. It is truly a miracle and a God ordained plan. Finding the courage and the faith to step outside ourselves and often our comfort zone could never have happened without faith, letting go of our own needs and trusting that God would work it all out. I wish I could bottle and sell the feeling of such faith so all of us could take a dose when needed. It felt so surreal to finally feel her, smell her and interact with her knowing that although we did not give birth to her, she is without a doubt our daughter. She is already etched in our hearts and needs us , but we feel strongly like it is our family that needs her. We need her to come home and complete our family."

That says it all. This is a journey of faith to a little one that will complete our family.

Sweet dreams sweet baby. May God protect you.

Love,
Mom