Prayer Requests

Please be in prayer about this next round of paperwork. We are trying to take care of all of the paperwork from North Africa this time and that leaves some uncertainties.

• Pray that the fingerprints we did in Spain would be accepted by the State of Indiana
• Pray that the our local Moroccan police would sign a document that our agency thinks we'll need in Ukraine. It's a statement that we are legal residents and that our children will be able to apply for residency. It's pretty straight forward, but we just don't know if they will commit to signing it.
• Pray that all the details of re-doing our physicals and lab tests will go smoothly since we'll be doing at least part of this in Morocco or Spain

Thanks so much for holding us up in prayer!

The Costa del Sol Episode

Yes, that wonderful little paper specifically known as the I-171 H arrived at our apartment building Monday, June 2. Before we could send a copy to Ukraine, we needed to make a notarized, apostilled copy. We had plans to get that done at the US Consulate in southern Spain, also known as the Costa del Sol, during our trip there last week. Two days before we set out for Spain we received an email from our agency telling us that the paperwork already in Ukraine is expiring (it can't be older than 6 months old when it comes time to turn it in).
We were headed to Spain for some rest and some time with our Spanish family. Stan's brother's in-laws have a home in a little village about an hour from the coast. We were pretty worn out as we were preparing to leave and the extra little "task" of re-doing all our paperwork seemed too much to deal with before a break.
We made it to Spain, crashed for a few days, then we quickly prepped all the documents that we could process through the U.S. Consulate. Unfortunately when we arrived at the consulate last Wednesday we found that the notary public had just left on vacation. They had warned us to call before coming, but we couldn't get through on the phone that morning and we'd been too fried to organize ourselves and call on an earlier day.
On a happier note, we ended the day with friends Sam and Karla and their boys in Malaga. It was same day that some Indiana friends Jim and Treleen and their kids were visiting them as well. It seems like we're always showing up on their doorstep when folks from Indiana are there!

Good News from Rome

Yesterday we received word from Rome that our US application was approved! The official approval form is on its way to us from Italy. When it arrives we will need to do some further paperwork in Rabat and Casablanca before we mail a certified copy of this form to Ukraine to complete our dossier. Thanks so much for all your prayers!

Intro to Attachment

One of the most important and most fascinating items on my adoption prep list is to put together a plan to promote a secure attachment with our children. The book I'm reading right now is called Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents by Deborah Gray. I was impressed right away with the book when I read the following personal note of the author:
I have come to acknowledge myself as an attachment-disordered child of a loving God, slow to trust and confused between life and God, in spite of evidence of love. I am grateful for this extravagant love, flowing through my life, through my work.
She goes on to explain that the relationship between a parent and a child is the template a child uses for all other relationships. In a secure attachment, children know there are lovable, that they can trust their parents, and that their needs will be met. Children who are adopted often have this primary relationship of their lives disrupted. Because of this, children such as those who are adopted from orphanages in Ukraine have more developmental and emotional work to do as they grow up than children who grew up with their birth families. We're told that a normal healthy process of attachment of a child after an international adoption may take up to two years. All that on top of learning a new language!

Repeat Request from Rome

Yesterday we received another email from Rome requesting our adoption agency's updated license. We were assured this was faxed after the first request, so it appears the folks at the consulate didn't get it into the right hands. This time the agency is emailing a scanned copy that should be easier to keep track of. In some ways, I was relieved to hear that this was what was holding up the application and not something less fixable. Typically the U.S. paperwork gets processed pretty quickly in the overseas offices as there aren't as many American adoption applicants living overseas as there are in the U.S. We mailed this application in January and have had a couple rebounds in the process. Keep praying! I hope to post good news soon from Rome!

Rebound from Rome

We received an email from USCIS in Rome that our social worker's license document expired April 11, 2008. They needed a new one faxed. I suppose that means they've been looking at our application recently. Please pray that we'll hear good news from them soon.

Staying Busy in The Waiting Place

We wish we had a lot of exciting news to pass along to you all but not much has been happening in the adoption process. We received word that our papers that are with the facilitator in Ukraine have been translated. We also heard that my fingerprints that were sent to the US Embassy in Rome were accepted. Besides these encouraging bits of news, we've settled in for the long wait.

Probably the most frequent question we're hearing at this point is, "What happens next?" The most likely scenario is that we will receive our letter from the US Embassy in Rome that officially gives us permission to adopt kids from another country and provides a pre-clearance for them to become US citizens. Alternatively, we may receive some word about our facilitator about getting an appointment to submit our paperwork to the Ukrainian authorities. From what I've been reading on the blog sites of other people who are adopting from Ukraine, this may take as long as six months or more. One very real concern is that the authorities might stop accepting paperwork for the year before ours is submitted. As tough as that might be it doesn't close the doors to us - we would just prepare to submit papers next year.

Meanwhile our days are filled up to the brim with lots of things that keep our mind off The Wait. Stan has been super busy at work as the economic downturn and rising real estate prices in our area has put them under pressure to keep the budget lean. Although they were anticipating hiring new staff last month they ended up redistributing responsibilities among those who are already on board. It's been tough but business is already starting to look up again.


Last month I took a trip 4 hours south of us to help out with a small community health project in a mountain village. The picture shows us taking blood sugar and blood pressure readings with a group of ladies. Two weeks ago I launched into MSA - Modern Standard Arabic. Although I know the local dialect, this official and written form of the language is very different in grammar and much of its vocabulary. I'm enjoying the challenge of studying again. Which reminds me that I've a good bit of homework to do this afternoon yet. Please don't forget to be praying for God's timing on our paperwork and we'll keep you posted on how things are unfolding.