Frustrations

Government always amazes me.  You can hear one thing from one person in an office somewhere on the East Coast and then call two days later to the same office and hear something totally different.  That is exactly what happened to us last week.

We got the "word" that our paperwork had been sent via e-mail to the Embassy over in the Philippines.  By word, I mean that I found the number to the National Visa Office and called them directly.  I was told by a sweet lady that we had been "approved" and , just that morning, they had sent our paperwork over to the Embassy in the Philippines.   That same sweet lady told me that we would be getting a confirmation letter in the mail with our new case number. She said it would take about a week. Thankfully, she did go on and give me the new number before we got off the phone even though we hadn't received the "official" confirmation. Yes, success for the day!

We checked the mail every single day for the next week.  Since we have a post office box and have to get to the post office to get our mail, we often go a few days without checking the box.  Anyway, nothing ever showed up.  Finally, I called again last Friday to see if they could at least just send something via e-mail to us showing that our paperwork had been forwarded to the Philippines.  That is when I heard the words, "well, no letter has been sent out".  WHAT?  You are kidding me.  How can someone tell me that something had been sent out and then someone else in the same office  tell me otherwise?  To put the icing on the cake she also said that it would take 5-7 business days for us to get a letter - by e-mail mind you - to us.  I don't know what you think about that, but I totally think it is ridiculous why someone can't just hit the send button right then. This morning I turned on the computer to find that confirmation e-mail in my inbox.  By the way, it only took one day to send.

Adoptions are hard.  They are challenging and they try your patience more than just about anything.  You have good days, really good days and then bad days.  Just when you think you are moving forward, smack - something sets you back.  Most of the times, those set backs are due to things you have no control over; such as waiting for someone to send a letter to you.  Adoptions bring out the best - and possibly the worse- in you.  With so many hurdles to jump through, and phone calls to make you may wonder "why"?  Why go through it?  This is why....
 

Naomi's first birthday in America.

Sisters - forever

Had God not given us a deep desire for adoption, she could possibly still be waiting- in an orphanage, as just a number without any hope for a real family.  Praise God HE changed all of that.  HE made it possible for Naomi to live in freedom, in a family with the love of a mom and dad all her siblings too. Soon, we will have a picture of Jacob with his family  - a mom and dad and all his siblings . That is why we go through what we do.  Need I say more?

Lorrie