The last month or so has gone by in a whirlwind. I’ve been blessed to see my family ….parents, siblings and their tiny tots. Although, their tiny tots are not so tiny anymore. My oldest nephew is 11 and I’m so proud of him. He’s a genius kid with such a big heart. Then comes all the other kids with my baby niece rounding up the crew at 1 years old.
Since we’ve been back from visiting family, we just launched our 23 location as a church and we’re on the verge of launching our 24th this weekend! Awesome craziness! Launching new campuses is quickly becoming second nature to some and I’m just excited to be a part of it all.
In addition to all of that, my favorite person in the whole world (my best friend and handsome hubby) just graduated with his Masters. Finally! Thank the Lord! We’re home -free! He’s my second reason to be prideful today. =) I’m not kidding when I say that his studies were the last thing on his mind…so it was generally the last thing he did in a day! He’s always been present at home and at work that he would at times forget that he had to finish his homework. Lol.
If I’m being completely transparent, I must say that through this beautiful and stressful season, God has allowed our family to see some hard times as well. Hard times that are very personal and painful. It’s in these times He wants us to trust Him. It’s easy to trust when things are going great but so hard to believe He’s in the midst of the storm. There’s no better way to live than choosing to believe He’s in my boat!
On the adoption front, we’ve had progress but a very slow one at that. Several weeks ago, I filled out a form on behalf of my baby girl.
It was an application for her immigrant visa. I’ve filled out several things now for her and only two things have made me feel like this adoption is really happening. One was a document with her official name (including ‘George’ at the end) and this would be the second. It was so surreal to type in that I’m (her mom) the one filling this out for her and that our Oklahoma address is her permanent residence. (Sigh)
I’ve had so many questions as to next steps so now we just wait. Waiting seems to always be a ‘next’ step in adoption. Ha! The next piece of information I’m waiting for is the ARC approval (state approval from India where she currently resides) that states she’s ready to be adopted, after that comes the NOC (No Objection Certificate) that basically lets us know that no one in India objects to her being adopted by us. After that, we have more waiting before her passport is issued and we can prepare for travel. I’m sure there are details in between but that’s the overall picture of what our year will look like with adoption. We are praying, hoping and believing we’ll go get her before the year is up – 7 months to make it a reality.
(Lil George Fund: http://www.gofundme.com/5lymfo)
