Friday, May 18, 2012

Warning: The Enemy is Still Lurking

Whether you are a weary traveler trudging along beside us on 'the Adoption Highway' or whether your journey has just begun and you are cruising down the road at a steady pace, one thing is certain, getting to your destination is long and hard.

You will encounter delays, pot holes, detours, unforeseen twists and turns, wrong directions, flat tires, and empty gas tanks.  The journey will bring you to new places of desperation and dependence then propel you forward with renewed hope and excitement.

The highs are very high.

And the lows, well, the lows can be very low.

Doubt, fear, discouragement, impatience, and apathy lurk around every bend.  There is an enemy on the highway and he is out to destroy you.  Sometimes there are choices to be made that you do not feel equipped to make...they were not part of the plan...they were not on the original road map.

Communication is not always clear.  Expectations are not always met.  The phone doesn't always ring when you expect it to.  Emails don't arrive "on time".  Things can get lost in translation when dealing with staff in foreign countries.  Rules change.  Laws change.  Things happen...not always for the best.

This journey is not for the faint of heart.

After submitting our Letter of Intent last week to formally adopt 'Thunder' and 'Lightning', we expected our dossier documents to be sent to the orphanage where the boys are residing.  Here the dossier documents would be presented to, and reviewed by, the Adoption Committee at Chiquitines this week.  Once approved, we would receive an official referral for the boys.

Receiving dossier approval is the only way we can receive an official referral to move forward with the adoption of the boys we have been matched with in Cali, Colombia.

On Tuesday, our agency made us aware that our dossier was not submitted to Chiquitines in Cali, Colombia, but to another orphanage in Bogota, Colombia.  It was reviewed at said orphanage on Monday and because it had already been presented to the Committee there, it must stay there for the remainder of the approval process.  Once approved there, we will file a letter asking for a transfer of the approved dossier to the orphanage in Cali where the boys are residing.

After being approved, God willing, the dossier will be transferred to Chiquitines.  Once received there,  a Committee can hand out an official referral for the boys and we will be able to move forward with our plans to bring them home.

Yesterday we received an update and a letter stating that our dossier was not approved by the Adoption Committee at the orphanage in Bogota where our dossier was delivered.  We will need to provide an addendum to our home study addressing answers to very specific questions posed by the Committee.  After the addendum is written, notarized, apostilled, sent to Colombia, and translated, it will once again be presented to the Committee at said orphanage for review.  At that time it may or may not be approved.  Further questions may be asked.  More information may be required.

In the meantime, two little boys wait to come home.

This journey is not for the faint of heart.

"They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD." 
Psalm 112:7

2 comments:

  1. Oh my God, I can imagine your frustration!! You are taking it extremely well! I would be furious!

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  2. Viktorija, we are learning day by day just how hard this journey can be...so many ups and downs, so many unknowns. We are holding on for the blessing and we believe it is coming soon!

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