Referrals and Government Holidays

Things have been pretty quiet since we recieved word that we were  officially listed with Bulgaria and began our wait for referral.  In the last several weeks we have seen on our Friday updates that referrals are happening on a more frequent basis.  Bulgaria has a new Minister of Justice and she has been "learning the ropes" of her job so no referrals were forthcoming for quite some time.  It seems that she is comfortable with her duties and has started to send referrals.  We have seen at least one per week in the last 5 weeks, including a family from Michigan that we correspond with.  They hope to head to Bulgaria mid August for their first trip.  When we do finally receive a referral, here is the procedure:

Referral process:
* Families are given 10 business days to consult with Int'l pediatrcian and social worker
* After official decision, 1st trip will be scheduled within 1-2 weeks

1st Trip:
* Always arriving on a Sunday and departing on a Saturday (specific dates will be given)
* Full week to bond with your child
* Families are responsible for booking flights to Bulgaria
* All in-country accommodation will be arranged by our staff

After 1st Trip:
* I800 provisional approval process (application to allow your child to enter USA) - I usually have families apply for this prior to the trip
* US Embassy approval "Article 5" (4-6 weeks)
* MOJ approval (4-6 weeks)
* Court approval (4-6 weeks)

Depending on holidays and closures, average between the 1st and 2nd trip is 4-5 months. With so many great technologies these days, most of the families are able to communicate with their child via skype.

The bummer now that we have some momentum is that the Bulgarian government shuts down for the month of August and we won't see any more referrals until mid September.  They do this again in December and January.  So frustrating!

We have been living vicariously through our friends the Burdens who have just returned from meeting their son in Russia.  I feel Jill's every emotion as she meets, falls in love with, plays with, and says goodbye to her little man.  Can't wait until that day come for us!  I almost miss the days when we were gathering information to send in to the agency.  I felt productive then.  I know that waiting can be productive too, but I don't have to like it do I?

Waiting

Our phone rang yesterday and upon answering we heard, "Congratulations you guys!!  Your paperwork has been approved and you are officially listed with Bulgaria!"  We now have a number, which really only means that we are in the system.  It's not a number like you might hear at the Secretary of State, "Now serving #42, who's next please?".  It's our identifying number for Bulgaria.  But for us, it means we are one step closer to our family.  Although we have been told the wait could be up to 24 months, we could literally get a call any day with a referral for us to consider.  Then there will be more numbers to consider...will we get a referral for 1, 2, or 3 children?  how old are they?  how many days before we travel?  how many hours on a plane?  how many hours in country before we meet them?  how many days before we travel again to bring them home?  How long Oh Lord?  For so long we have been crying out for these children, always knowing that He knows who they are and when we will meet them.  After so much heartache, I have barely dared to dream anymore of what our family will be.  It is easier to move through the days not thinking such tender thoughts.  And although I have always known I would someday be a mom and John would be someone's amazing daddy, I think I gently tucked the daydreaming part of me away so it wouldn't get damaged again and again.  Well Someday finally feels like it's getting closer, so maybe, just maybe, I can find the me I tucked away and begin to dream again.

Grace Flows Down : A Fundraiser Update

We've had a crazy whirlwind week since our amazing fundraiser last weekend and, although we are still processing what happened that night, I have a few minutes to be still this morning before church.  We were hugely blessed in a number of ways that night.  God showed up in a BIG way.  If it's possible to plan an event and have it turn out (logistically speaking) just as we imagined, then that's what we got.  It was so fun to see many of our favorite people together on stage and mingling in the audience.  I couldn't stop smiling from the time rehearsal began at 3pm to the time we left at 10:30.  The Holy Spirit was definitely within our midst and you are all evidence of His great love.  THANK YOU for being Jesus with skin on!!  We fell to our knees as we realized that we had surpassed our fundraising goal for the night and, in fact, probably do not need to worry about fundraising the rest of the way!  Wow. God provided abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine.  And, to tell you the truth, it makes me wonder if He is giving us 3 kiddos instead of the 2 we are praying for!  That would certainly make it interesting around here.  One more bit of news this week.  We got our immigration approval on Thursday so now we just have to gather a few papers to apostille and we will be officially listed with the country and then we can begin our "official" wait.

God is good!

God is good!  We went to Grand Rapids this afternoon to see if we could get our fingerprinting done before the April 25 scheduled appointment.  There was no one waiting and they took us right away!  It feels so good to be 2 weeks closer.  We found out yesterday that the National Benefit Center needs some clarification on our sibling group parameters that we set for the kiddos.  Our caseworker is already working on it, as it seems to be just a wording issue in the home study and nothing that we need to do.  I believe we will need to update our medical letters one more time before being listed with the country (they are only good for 3 months).  So now we wait for word from the NBC that we are good to go, focus on fundraising, and keep praying that God prepares our hearts to know our children's hearts as family. 

Dossier Translated

 We have a phone call with AGCI every other week to touch base, give and get updates.  We found out this week that our dossier has been translated!  All we have left to do is get our fingerprints done and processed before we can be listed with Bulgaria.  We are considering going rogue this week and trying to get in 2 weeks early.  It goes completely against my "always play by the rules" mantra, but every day we check something off our list gets us to our babes that much sooner!
We also found out this week that the new Ministry of Justice is still learning her job and, therefore, the referral process has slowed down.  There are 34 families ahead of us at AGCI, but we are unsure how many are pursuing sibling groups.  We get weekly email updates on the Bulgaria program and get to see how many familes are in each stage of the process.  Can't wait to get to the Second Trip In Country Group...for now we will be thrilled with the Waiting for Referral Group.

No Idea What I Am Doing

Right off the top, I'll just say that I have no idea what I am doing. This is my attempt to keep folks in the loop with what's going on with us and our adoption journey.  You can catch the back story in the "Our Adoption Journey" tab. 
 For now, we have submitted our dossier and it is currently being translated in Bulgaria. We expect that to take a few more weeks.  We also have sent in our NBC (National Benefit Center, formerly the INS) application and are awaiting that to be processed and for them to send us our fingerprinting appointment (that will be our 4th fingerprinting I believe). That could also be a few more weeks.  Once everything is processed and approved, we will be listed with Bulgaria and begin our "official wait"...as if we haven't been waiting already.  We've been told the wait will be 9-12 months, so sort of like being pregnant and "expecting".  And so we wait, expectantly, and with HOPE.