The Dossier...

HUGE UPDATE!

We are sighing with a little bit of relief!

The dossier has been submitted!

PRAISE THE LORD!

3 months of paperwork-gathering was placed in a FED-EX box and sealed tight.

Done.

Me, AJ and Annabelle at the adoption agency mailing the dossier.

What is a dossier? (doss-ee-aaa)

Ours was 28 documents, each one notarized, certified and apostilled.

Several $100 dollars went into completing that stack of papers. 

It was also sent along with a check for $4500 to pay lawyer fees, 

translation fees and all sorts of other fees.

The papers include:

Marriage license

Financial history

Medical clearance

Police clearance

Application to adopt

Several letters of reference

Home study

Pictures of our family

And so much more…

So now we wait.

Hopefully in 2-4 months we will be invited to travel and meet “Janie” for the first time.

Pray with us.

Proverbs 5:21

“For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths.”

The Paperwork Puzzle

Last Friday was an exciting day!

We finally received approval from Homeland Security to continue with our adoption.

We had traveled to Charlotte on August 14 to be fingerprinted.

Then we had come home to wait.

But in the waiting time, we weren’t just waiting.

We were collecting original birth certificates, marriage licenses, reference letters, financial documents, copies of our passports and so much more...

Not to mention....

 school started

soccer started,

homework started

 and planning the next fundraiser started.

So, just yesterday (Monday), I visited the adoption agency to review all of our papers and sign and notarize a rather large stack of documents.

I thought I would be there 30 minutes.  

I don’t do well estimating time.  

It took 2 hours.

So then today comes.  After a fitful night of sleep, 

I beat the alarm and hopped out of bed at 6:20 am.

Destination: Raleigh.

Location: The Secretary of State

Mission: To Apostille  28 documents… all in one day.

2 hours of driving, a big coffee, rain and traffic and I was there!

Seriously, the lady behind the counter was so nice. 

Proof that God goes before us.  

Even when are just apostilling things.

I handed her my painfully scrutinized, signed and organized stack of papers.  

She handed me a receipt and told me to come back at 1:30.

When I called, the original time I had been told to come back… 4:30pm.  

Again… thank you Lord.

Time to Apostille. 

So by now, I am sure you are asking, what in the world is APOSTILLE??

Yup.  Before adoption, I had no idea what it meant either.   

Basically, it’s an international verification that your documents are legit.  

It is one more level of security.  

And money.  

And headache. 

But… then you’re done...with paperwork… for a while.

So let me summarize…

I gathered 28 documents, and several of them have multiple pages.  

And they took months and hours and $$ to compile

And Notarize

Drive to Raleigh.  4 hours round trip

Pay $210

Arrive.  Wait 5 hours.  

Visit an old friend while waiting.

Drive home.

Next step is tomorrow.  

Copying all of our dossier. 

Twice. 

Dossier is a fancy word for our stack of apostilled papers.

Then… back to the adoption agency… to mail this precious stack of papers… 

with a check for $4500.

It gets to our country

gets translated

gets to an official

 gets reviewed

 and then we get to go visit “Janie”!

To God be the Glory!

The countdown is on....

"The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

Details... Part 2

So this is us… a family of 7.

  

5 children.  

2 Adults.  

2 dogs. 

1 cat.

Big family.  Big hearts.  Big grocery bills.

Busy.  Busy.  Busy.

Our oldest child is 13 and our youngest just turned 2.

AJ has Down syndrome.

And… did I mention Matt had a stroke in December? 

Yup, and he’s not even 40.

So we paused as we thought about adopting Janie.

What would our future look like, adding another child?

What about sleeping arrangements? 

School?  Bills? Vacations? College?

Is the mini-van even big enough?

But then we were confronted, convicted, and called.

God introduced us to a precious girl whose only future 

consisted of 4 walls- her orphanage.

So we were faced with a dilemma.

Two directions. 

Stay… or… Go.

To stay: to be complacent in what we know, 

what we are comfortable with and what is safe.

OR

To go:  To follow the Lord where He leads.  

To respond in action to His not-so-subtle nudges to go in a direction 

completely opposite from all common-safe-sensible living.

What would you choose?

We chose to go.

Deuteronomy 31:8  “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."