That Paper Pregnancy Thing

Waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. That’s where we are right now. And this place is one that we’re all too familiar with. We first got familiar with this whole waiting thing during our adoption journey with Sophie, and now we’re getting reacquainted with our friend once more.

Much of the international adoption process is often called a paper pregnancy, and there’s a lot of truth to that. Paperwork here, and waiting some more. Paperwork there, and waiting again. But, we’re getting a little closer as every day passes.

A few weeks ago, I posted a Facebook picture of our family on the day that we mailed our dossier to our China Team at Bethany Christian Services. I think there was some confusion about this pic because some people thought we were traveling to China when we took that pic, but we were actually just at Pony Express in Hendersonville paying for shipping.

Some of you may be wondering exactly what a dossier is, so I thought it might be helpful to explain what a dossier is all about. The dossier is the application of all kinds of important paperwork that eventually goes to China. In our dossier packet, you’ll find everything from a copy of our home study, birth certificates, marriage certificate, medical exams, reference letters, financial statements, and the list goes on and on.

Many of the documents in the dossier have to be notarized by a Notary Public and then authenticated at the county clerk’s office. But, it doesn’t stop there. Several of the documents (13 actually) then have to been authenticated with the state seal from the Secretary of State’s office in downtown Nashville. On top of that, many of the documents are time sensitive and have to be finalized within a certain time period. So, as you can imagine, it’s an ordeal to get all those documents together, and this is definitely one of the most stressful parts of the adoption process.

But, we did it! Our dossier has been shipped! And since we mailed the dossier to our adoption agency, it’s been sent to the Chinese Embassy, returned from the Chinese Embassy, and finally sent to China. And just last month (another drum roll please) we just got word that our dossier was logged in on March 29^th in China! That means we’re finally eligible for a match!

We have no idea when the match will happen, but we expect we’ll get a referral within the next few months. The actual matching process happens once each month. So, we wait for the day when we’re matched with our son. We wait for the day when we open that email and see his picture for the first time. We wait for the day when we travel to China to bring our precious little boy home to be a part of our forever family.

Again, we invite you to join our family in praying with us during our adoption process. There are still lots of things that will need to fall into place even after we get our match and before we travel to China, but we’re trusting in our faithful God to work our everything in his time just like he did with our adoption with our sweet Sophie.

Our adoption journey with Sophie was an emotional roller coaster to say the least. I was excited some days and absolutely scared to death other days. But so far, this adoption journey that we now find ourselves on now has been a little different. I haven’t been as scared of late, and God’s peace has been much more present. And you may be wondering why this adoption experience is different. Well, I’ve been wondering the same thing. The thing that I keep coming back to is a passage in the Old Testament, a passage that God uses to speak to me time and time again.

Isaiah 41:10 states, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This is the verse that we memorized as part of our homeschool memory work last year, and for 2016 we’ve adopted this verse as our family verse for the year.  And these are the words that I remind myself of often. When I remind myself that God is with me, that he is near, things just aren’t as scary. When I remember that God will help me and give me strength, courage seems to win out more often.

Whatever you’re afraid of right now, take courage, my friend. Remember that our God is near, and he will give you the courage and strength to press on. So, let’s press on together.