Dossier Day!

November 18, 2014 – a Tuesday. Today was a BIG DAY! We had our dossier notarized and mailed it to Iowa for our wonderful Adoption Agent to review! Hopefully, if everything was included and looks good, she will send this to our lawyer in Uganda for us soon. Yep. We have a lawyer in Uganda! Crazy, right?!

A picture of us with our sweet, sweet Notary. She was a trouper!! Our official dossier was over an inch thick! Check it out!

What does this mean?! Well, first it helps us introduce ourselves to the nation of Uganda and lets them know that we are serious about bringing Sister home. Second, this should help to apply gentle pressure on the Baby Home to finish up Sister’s social report. We need to know that this girl is really OURS! Our boys have not seen Sister’s photos – we just have to be as certain as possible before they fall in love with her pictures.  

Our amazing adoption agency will also hire a non-biased third party to conduct their own background check to confirm that Sister is adoptable. As hard as this is with feelings involved, I indeed want what is best for Sister. If family is found then she will go to them.  My mind and my heart are two different organs; however, I have spent the last couple of years doing my best to train them both to follow God’s will. This means that as much as I want Sister in my arms, if there is family in Uganda for her then I will have to be happy for her. I am trusting God and we have decided to follow His plan for Sister’s life. Yes, we desperately want to bring her here and this be her home. However, if that is not His plan for her, we must be happy that she will be reunited with relatives.  This love-thing is just tough.  But this is the part of adoption that adoptive parents must embrace. Adoption, while amazingly beautiful, is born out of tragedy.  Sister may always wonder and grieve over her biological parents. Who could blame her? When reading, preparing and learning about this, I asked the Big O what he thought about that. His response, “We will just grieve with her and support her to the best of our ability.” Aww, I just love this man. What else can we really do? Family’s loves, family’s support, family’s do things together. Come here, Sister, we will walk this road with you.

So, what to wait on now….. Well, first off, we are still waiting on that social report that this girl is ours! Please, pray that this will come in quickly. Next, once her legal name and birthdate are known, we will send another official form to the USCIS (with all of that information) so that they can approve it and send this information on to the US Embassy in Kampala, Uganda. The Big O and I will also have to pay for and get our fingerprints done – AGAIN – but hey, what can I say. The last time I tried to complain to the fingerprinting guy about having to get fingerprinted numerous times when fingerprints really do not change, he scared me with scary scenarios about having are fingers cut off or receiving a big gash in one’s finger or thumb. It was gross and horrifying. Lesson learned – never complain to a person who makes an honest living collecting people’s fingerprints about having to do that several times in one year.

I spoke to our Adoption Agent today and asked if she could find out how many kiddos are currently at the Baby Home. I would love to send over a big box of dum dums (lollipops) for Christmas, along with a few other goodies. Would you like to donate something to this box or pay to ship it? Let us know and we will share the fun! Seriously, what is better than giving something to children who would really cherish that gift and put it to good use?

Please, pray for amazing favor in the timing of this process. We have been warned that not much may get accomplished during the entire month of December. We will accept this if we must. However, we will continue to pray that things will move along quickly and smoothly. We are still hopeful that we can possibly bring Sister home in the spring. We will wait on God’s perfect timing, and while we are waiting, we will hope that it comes in the spring!

Please, pray that God will continue to provide for this adoption. So far, He has indeed shown up and provided for this. We ask for His continued faithfulness and provision.

We are having work done on one of our cars. It is still our hope to sell it in the future in order to purchase a new (for us) car with two back seats so that sweet Little O will not be squished between two big car seats. Please, join us in prayer that the right car for our family will come along when the time is right. And, most especially, that we will be able to afford it. I do not know where that money will come from but I do look forward to seeing how God will provide us with it!

Our family has had our share of being “under attack” these last couple of weeks. This statement means that we have had a lot thrown at us, often suddenly, and from all sides – financially, physically, and psychologically. It was really tough for a while. While the truth about our God never changes, our dependence on Him can vary. I often think that He allows such things in order to draw us closer to Him, to remind us that He has got this all figured out anyway. Looking back, I can already see His handprints over so many things during some serious struggles.  However, I ask that if you are willing, to pray for continued protection over our family and Sister. I can still recall how comforted I was when others told me that they were praying for us. Amazing.

Well, this is it until next time. I hope to be able to share Sister’s photos with you all soon! Thank you for joining us on this journey!