fingerprints = strikeout!

My first attempt at getting my ink fingerprints failed today.  How horribly frustrating!  Because of the requirements of Bulgaria, I must obtain fingerprints on an ink card and mail it (myself) to the FBI and then wait up to 2 months to see the magic piece of paper that assures me I have a clean record.  I bundled up my adorable daughter, who isn't really feeling well today, and zipped off to the State Police Barracks, a place I was told would certainly take my fingerprints on the card I had!

Instead, I was greeted by a woman who simply had no idea what I wanted, made me wait several minutes with my daughter in tow, and then told me there was no one there to take them.  I could feel myself wanting to say, "I'll bet if I committed a crime someone would take my fingerprints!" but I held my tongue, took the phone number she offered and hastily made my exit.  We were in such a hurry that, as I buckled Chelsea into the car seat, she said "rectangle!" (referring to the puzzle piece she'd brought with her into the State Police) and I realized it was gone.  Angrily, I raced back into the building to retrieve the puzzle piece, which she had carefully placed on one of the three chairs in the tiny waiting room.

I called my husband on the ride home, admittedly to complain.  I asked him if he would be willing to take some of the money we have set aside for our adoption and use it to bail me out of jail when I committed a petty crime. My "plan" was to find some small crime that I could commit, get arrested, and have Jon bail me out - so long as the police would give me my fingerprint card!  :)

Of course, I realized that there was a fatal flaw to my plan; getting arrested would lead to a criminal record!  (And I was only joking, of course...I would never actually do that!)  UGH!  I am still so frustrated, and it's far too early on to feel that much frustration.

God smiled on my husband though; he phoned to tell me that the State Police Barracks where he went did take his fingerprints today.  I rejoiced with that; one down, one to go.  Jon also reminded me that this was just one example of the bumps on this road we would face, and that patience would serve me far better than frustration.  Of course, he is right.  Thank God for calmer and more logical voices than my own.

Galatians 6:9:

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

This is a message to everyone - whether in an adoption process or not.  It is difficult to do good, and it is easy to become weary.  But at the proper time (which is not always the time that I would like!) we will reap the harvest.  For us, our harvest lives in Bulgaria, in an orphanage.  For him, we will not give up.