Homestudy = Complete!

In my last post, I shared how Nebraska lost our clearances and our home study was put on hold.  Well, we almost had another major glitch.  Let me set the background.  When we signed up with the agency to do our home study, they gave us a list of all the documents we needed.  Then we worked with them for over a month.  And they have let us know what documents were outstanding.  For the last 3 weeks, I knew we were only missing some state clearances. Well, last week, they decided out of the blue that they needed a copy of Gabe's adoption decree.  Why? I have no idea.  Maybe to make sure his parents didn't buy him on the black-market?  Well, it just so happens that the day they emailed me was the day Gabe's parents were flying out of Denver to go to the Philippines for a month!  I quickly called Terri, my mother-in-law, and to my relief they were packing.  I asked her if she had the documents and after a few minutes of looking, she found it.  Then, she informed me their scanner may be broken.  I was freaking out at that point.  And with our Nebraska documents getting lost in-transit, I didn't want her to mail such a important document.  But God came through (which shouldn't surprise me at all).  Somehow Bill was able to scan the documents to me that afternoon, which I forwarded to the agency. Crisis averted.

So all that was left was the pesky Nebraska clearances, take 2.  Gabe got back on Friday so we went and got the documents notarized on Monday.  I was all ready to mail the documents then thought I should fax them as well.  I made out a coversheet with my info and faxed it at work.  Only a few minutes later, I get a phone call from the people I sent it (at my work phone which really surprised me).  They said they got my fax, no need to mail the originals, and they would fax it back to our home study agency later that day.  This afternoon our coordinator emailed and said they received it and our home study would be finalized tomorrow!

All these little hiccups are just that: little.  Amazingly, the situation hasn't become overwhelming or too stressful. Everything has worked out pretty smoothly.  Which in my mind affirms that this is what God is wanting us to do.  If this was not his will, his hand wouldn't be on all these hiccup situations and it would be a mess, I'd be stressed out and cranky.  But the timing of everything, especially the situation with Gabe's parents leaving in a matter of hours, has all worked out because God is in control and he is making this all work out.  It's his grace on us and our choice.  What a comfort that is!

So with our home study complete, this makes us eligible for a baby.  No more legal compliance.  Once we are selected, we can bring a baby home.  We can get matched with any birth mother, even one in labor.  Or we could get a phone call that an infant in our area is a match for us.  Those are rare occasions, but it is a possibility.  Which is exciting and slightly terrifying overwhelming.  In a way, I want to have time to prepare and build a relationship with our birth mother.  But with Gabe moving to Hawaii in a little over a month, a quick adoption would be a gracious gift.