While there are so many things to think about with regards to adoption, I think my biggest piece of advice for adopting families that are already in the process is to make sure none of the paperwork expires! This week is a prime example of what can happen. Our family seems to be on a roller coaster ride that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight and I’m hitting the point where I’m about to scream, “Stop! Let me off”! 🙂
It all started off with us waiting for our agency to receive a copy of the written court order, which apparently gets the ball rolling for them to continue onto next steps. Their hands were tied and so were ours. But in order to put our minds at ease, our agency decided that they’ll still go ahead and talk to us about travel. So we make an appointment to have a call with them at 6 am on Wednesday morning. In the meantime, we were asked to check with our home study agency whether we were up to date on everything. It turns out our home study update expired and our fingerprints all expired – both of which can take several weeks to process. If you know me, you can imagine my response, “ARE YOU SERIOUS”?? This means more paperwork and more unforeseen expenses for us – and mind you, this will be our third time doing all this since we’ve been at this (adoption) for 3 years and all this paperwork only lasts 1 year! AAAGGGHHH!
To make a long story short, we reached our peak of frustration when the travel call was so generalized that we didn’t know any new information than the previous day. It wasn’t the agency’s fault since they live in a flexible world full of unknowns while working with different countries that have various timelines & specifics can only be made after certain processes are complete but we were still SO disappointed. Disappointed enough to where we both wanted to work remote & treat ourselves to some coffee & lunch (we generally pack our lunch for work). God definitely had other plans for the day! Shortly after the travel call, we received another call from our agency that said they finally got a copy of the written along with a document about our baby girl. Our agency emailed it to us right away. The court order was just what my heart needed. I’m not a public crier but as we read the court order together, I couldn’t help but shed tears. It is ordered and written -which means it’s permanent. 🙂 Here’s my favorite part:
“It is hereby declared that Gabrielle Naina George shall have all legal rights including rights of inheritance as that of a natural born child of the proposed adopters – Mr. Alan George & Mrs. Meryl George”.
Doesn’t it remind you of what God did for us? The Bible outlines the greatest adoption story ever! In Galatians 4, it talks about how we were adopted into the family of God, he now calls us his ‘sons’ and made us his heirs! We are co-heirs with Christ. How awesome is that? Now, that’s definitely something to shout about!
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. – Galatians 4:4-7 (KJV)
