waiting no more.

I suppose in the final analysis, the wait is never as long as it seems when you stop waiting.  We heard from our social worker and she is actively preparing the home study for us.  She had some additional questions to ask us this morning, which we happily answered.  She has already sent us a draft to review and will be in contact with our agency today as well.  She stated that she expects to have the home study done this week.  I am so hopeful and praying that we can submit our I800 A this week.  If not, it will be early next week. It is all prepared and ready to go. 

I don't necessarily take things to be "signs" or "not signs", because there is so much that can be subjected to interpretation.  When I am feeling unsure, I tend to be negative and take things as a sign that this isn't what we should do.  At other times, when I am more positive, I take good things as an affirmation that we are on the right road.  I think of 1 John 2: "For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father but is from the world." (16). We want to remain focused on our goal, irrespective of what our emotions may tell us.  If we are unclear in our emotions (one way or the other) we risk misinterpreting and misunderstanding our circumstances. 

It reminds me of what we learned in our marriage preparation class:  Love is a choice.  True love isn't conditional; it isn't built on what we feel today or another day.  If we only loved each other when we felt like it...well, I can tell you that there would be many days that I did not love my husband!  Love is a choice we make, a choice to love unconditionally in spite of circumstances.  Faith is the hope of things unseen.  It is with these concepts that we try to view our circumstances. 

The steps in this process seem to come in clusters, which is emotionally draining.  It seems that nothing happens, then things happen in a flourish, then it is quiet again.  It is actually an unnatural process, since most of our lives are pretty orderly and predictable.  Even pregnancy develops a sort of rhythm over time, culminating in the moment you meet your child.  Adoption isn't like this. 

It is even more amazing to me to think about this little boy...what is he doing right now?  He has no idea what is happening.  He has absolutely no clue what we are doing to bring him home to us.  No one has told him and he likely wouldn't understand anyway.  He just lives his life, one day at a time, losing weight, trying to walk in spite of rickets and scurvy, his eyesight growing a little worse with each day, and believing that his life will always be this way.  He has never known anything else.  Yet, here we sit, waiting on a document, hoping for some news, praying for things to move as we hope they will...and he doesn't know a thing.

Speaking of things moving, the Mulligan Stew giveaway is still in full swing, but it is almost over!  There are only a few days left to donate and enter.  Every prize is valuable, but there are some truly excellent prizes that warrant serious consideration!!  If I didn't already own an Ipad, I'd be first in line! I also own a Nook Color (won in an adoption giveaway last year!) so I don't need a Kindle, but you might!  Now the giftcards...I am totally into those because you can choose whatever you want. And there are some excellent gift cards in the mix.  You can enter the Mulligan Stew Giveaway by clicking on the button on our blog (on the left), choosing a family to donate to, and then notifying the giveaway owner that you entered.  It's that easy.  We're almost done, and SO many people have been blessed.  Have you entered?  Are you feeling lucky?  Want to enter again? 

Most importantly, as always, THANK YOU for reading, for following, for praying for our family, for supporting our efforts, and for sharing our blog!