Thursday, February 19, 2009

Just a little update

Not much is happening on the adoption front. After this past Tuesday's fiasco, I am reminded that even though I think everything adoption related is in my control....... actually nothing is. After driving for one hour up to Fresno to have two important documents apostilled, the nice woman behind the counter informed me that the county clerk had put the wrong year on the notary certification.

ARGH!!!!!!

Literally freaking out with frustration at this potential delay (remembering that I already had one delay because I had misplaced the documents), I asked if there was anything I can do besides having to drive all the way back home and having the certifications done over.

Well... remember how I said this woman was nice???

She made my day by suggesting that I just go and have the documents re-notarized and re-certified at the local county clerk's office which was three blocks away. Yes, this meant spending just as much money---- again, and yes this meant dragging the kids on more errands, but it was the simplest solution.

As I made small talk with the notary, she found out what the documents were for and ended up only charging me for the certifications-- not the notaries. Thankful to see this fiasco ending on a beautiful note, I thanked her over and over for her kindness. I told her I'd be back, as I waved us out the door.

After apostilling the documents, and filing re-adoption paperwork for Dennis (son that we adopted this past summer) with the court, we returned home.

Since I was already a week late in getting these documents over to Ukraine, I hopefully made the wise decision of saving some money and sending them over through the good ol' postal service instead of Fed Ex or DHL. It cost me nearly $100.00 dollars less.... and what is one more week?
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I am not sure if I am calculating things right or not, but it looks to me like $230.00 has been fundraised since the IPOD raffle was announced! Can I hear an Amen? I was hoping that enough people would buy a raffle ticket to at least cover the value of the IPOD which I think is around $230. Praise God! I am not sure who all of you are that have generously given, but I wanted to let you all know how thankful we are. Every little bit counts. If you were planning on buying a raffle ticket--- remember that the deadline is February 29th!

Julia has officially made $45 selling washcloths and scarfs. Thank you Mary and Julie! Your support of my daughter has been tremendous and though we are not close to covering the cost of her plane ticket and passport, I remain faithful that God will provide. The easy way out of this added expense would naturally be to not have her go..... but that is essentially saying that God won't provide and therefore I am going to come up with my own answer. That I have already committed to not doing. So if you still want to place an order or send a check for a previously placed order, we would both be very thankful.
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Lastly, I am asking everyone who is in the process of adopting to please leave me your blog address so that I can add you to my blogroll. I would like to be able to go to one place where I can check-up on all of your families so that I can pray for you guys.

23 comments:

Kelli said...

glad everything turned out so well.

Martha said...

God has everything in his hand and nothing catches Him by surprise. He will have each paper and document in exactly the right place at precisely the right time. He has many lives for you to touch in the process, giving encouragement and lighting lives along the way. Isn't He incredible?!

Lorraine Fuller said...

HI, I have adopted twice and there is a possibility I may be adopting again, but I can't post publically any details yet. Meanwhile following your blog is giving me hope and reminding me God is in charge.

Kathy Cassel said...

I'm pretty sure you have my blog but the adoption one is
http://ourhaitianadoption.blogspot.com/

Amber said...

Hi Christine. We are in the process of adopting again through foster-care. I can't be added to the blog roll, because we can't have a public blog right now... too many risks! But we'd appreciate all the prayer we can get! We are praying for your family as well. I think of you and your family often.

Julie said...

I just want to mention on your blog how much I LOVE the dishcloths I bought from Julia! If anyone out there is still using regular store bought terry cloth ones, you really should give these a try! (they might seem funny to use at first, but if you'll use them exclusively for a week, I think you'll see what I mean!) They clean in crevices much better than the others! I'll never go back to terry cloth for dishes that need to be hand washed (pots & pans, etc.). Julia did a very nice job - they are a perfect size and the yarn color was great! I'm going to order a dozen right away so I can start with a fresh one every day! And maybe, um, I'll share a few as gifts, um, if I can part with them! Thanks Julia - great job!

Delahne said...

Happy to follow your adoption while we're waiting for our court date. Our blog is http://bdwrighthome.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Ya know Christine, (and I know you know) God is sovereign. The DOJ messed up my livescan, so I was supposed to get another one done, which would have pushed us back again with this whole licensing thing. So, I was going to go yesterday, but came down with the stomach flu Tuesday night, so I couldn't go. I was griping to Mark about how this was just going to be another delay and he said, "Kristen, God is sovereign, even over the stomach flu!" This morning I got an e-mail from our social worker saying the DOJ came through. So, if I would have gone up yesterday it would have been a wasted trip, wasted time and wasted money. God is sovereign, even over all the little things that frustrate us.

Unknown said...

What a blessing that notary was! It's neat to see the kindness that people will show when they find out the story behind why you're there & what you're doing. I sent you an e-mail this afternoon about ordering some of Julia's products. Can't wait to hear back from you!

Karen Combes said...

Hi Christine: Just wanted to let you know that Julia's check was mailed yesterday. I can't wait to start using the washcloths. Maybe I should have ordered more after reading the above comment.

Conethia and Jim Bob said...

hey christine,

i have learned so much through following your journeys overseas. we are beginning our own journey that starts with our sda appointment this coming thursday, the 26th. feel free to follow along and comment. i really appreciate your advice.

www.turneradoption.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Good job keeping your cool after the date mix up. Adoption certainly is a growing experience (ha ha).

Our blog address is
http://lovelaughterlaundry.blogspot.com

Courtney said...

Add us in, too, please! We're hoping to head over to Ukraine (again) very soon and are also raising money for our adoption!

http://markandcourtney.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Christine,

I hope you got our check for the scarf... it was mailed out Monday...

Aren't the delays just awful? We had many with our dossier as well. So glad to hear you are almost done! It is a great day when you send that sucker off :)

Kelly S

Stephanie said...

Hey Christine! I didn't realize you had started this blog for your adoption. I'm so glad I finally noticed it! My husband and I are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. My blog address is http://stephanie-fishoutofwater.blogspot.com/

Praying for speedy paperwork and that he will be home in God's perfect timing!

Anonymous said...

We have two adoption blogs
thank you for your encouragement

ahomeforrahel.blogspot.com
and
amom2many.blogspot.com

Thanks

Svetlana said...

I like reading youg blog! I have been following your adoption jorney for a long time, back when you and your husband adopted Denis. Thank you!
My blog is
langhansfamilyadoptionfromukraine.blogspot.com

Ashley said...

I am glad you didn't have to drive all the way back to Fresno on another day. Ugh! I am happy people are being helpful and making things a little easier for you. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Christine! I would love for you to add us to the blogroll. We just got a referral for a little girl from Ghana. She is so precious!

http://salzwedeladventures.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Why would you even think of using Fed Ex or DHL overnight whe for $20. you can overnight it from the US post office....

Missy said...

Wow! For all of your difficulties, you are sailing!! It sounds like you will beat us to Kramatorsk! All we need left to do for our homestudy is drag 2 more letters of recommendation from family (Mark is on his way to IL right now and will get them faxed asap) and we're done with that! Can you still use your old 171H? We will send that in on Monday. Our homestudy wasn't ready, so we've been putting it off. Hopefully, by Monday, our homestudy docs will be on their way to the hs agency (they are very fast and good) and the I-600A will be on it's way to Orlando (or wherever) and we can focus in more on our dossier stuff. But you've got us beat! LOL You are an amazing person, Christine! You can get things DONE! :o) God bless - have a great Sunday!

Missy
(I can't sleep with my hubby gone - he left tonight at around 8pm and is driving through the night. :o( )

Anonymous said...

Hi Christine,
We're in the process of adopting a child from China with special needs:) We don't have a referral yet but hope too fairly soon.
Wendy
www.journeytoourstarfish.blogspot.com

Mummy McTavish said...

I get lots of those little reminders from God that He has it all under control when I am thinking it's all heading south.

It must be quite stressfull for you at the moment if you let it. Praying for all 14 Reeds!