The Process and Why I Hate the Word WAIT

Those of us who live in the middle of the adoption world just LIVE the steps so much that we often forget that many people don't know what comes next.  Unfortunately for me, most of it involves the word WAIT after each move.  We are SO CLOSE now, but waiting is just so hard.  Please pray for us as we wait and especially for them.  Pray that the process moves quickly and that the "wait" parts are very short and the "move" parts are close together.  Pray that the government and court officials who see our case will see the urgency of Matthew's situation and expedite his paperwork through as fast as possible.  "WAIT" can mean 5 minutes, a day, a week, or two. . . . I'd really like it to mean 5 minutes. . . . but days instead of weeks could make a huge difference in Matthew's life.  There are wonderful people in the country that my children are from who really do care about children and we just need to pray that they recognize the urgency of Matthew's situation and move it along as quickly as they can.  We need to pray that holidays, breaks, and other things don't slow it down either.  PLEASE PRAY!

Next in our process is that we need our documents to be submitted to the government and then we wait on a SIGNATURE.  We pray that the government official who needs to sign it honors the "medical expedite" for Matthew.  His medical expedite states that because of his current condition it is important  for him to get home as quickly as possible because his life is in "imminent danger".  Every time I think about that I get sick. . . .

After that signature, then our documents will be submitted to court where they will wait to be assigned to a judge.

Then our case will wait for a date to be given by that judge.

Then we will wait for that date to come.

Then we will have court and become their legal parents, but will have to wait for the documents to be ready before we can even get dates for travel.  This day they are declared ours, but we still have to WAIT!

Once the documents are ready then we will be given a date to travel to pick them up and will have to wait for that date to arrive.

24 hours of travel to get to their country means lots of time spent waiting.  I hate being away from my 18 kids at home and then not even with the 3 there yet is super hard waiting.  Knowing I am getting ready to bring them home for good will make this waiting a little easier!

Once in country the wait is tremendous because once you are in their beautiful country, but can't get your children immediately it just is unbearable even though so close.

Once the day arrives you wake up WAY before the alarm goes off and have to wait for the time to go pick them up.

Once you get to the orphanage I will have to wait for them to bring my kids to me, even though I want to RUN up the stairs and grab them because I've waited way longer than anyone should ever have to wait.

After we pick them up we will have to rush back for passports and then go back to the hotel.

There will be tons to do over that next few days and all of it is just more of the process that is part of the wait to get them home to join our family and have all 21 of my kids together in one place safe and sound.

The travel to get home takes usually around 24 hours with kids who are tired, grumpy, and overstimulated.  Matthew will be needing to get some medical care soon after getting home too, but we are hoping to be able to not go straight to the hospital and have appointments set up to keep him from inpatient if at all possible.  Keith finds hospitals very stressful, so we don't want to thrust him into that right off if we can help it.  We are praying we can manage to meet all his medical needs without going straight to the hospital and will set up appointments as soon as we have some idea as to a pickup time.  That waiting in airports and on airplanes will not be easy!

NOW DO YOU KNOW WHY I HATE THE WORD WAIT EVEN MORE THAN A THREE YEAR OLD DOES???? 

I feel like a 3 year old whining, but I WANT THEM NOW!!!  God has to be tired of hearing me whine.  We really expect that we should be able to travel in October or November. . . even though I know the word "WAIT" is used a lot of times. . . it just seems like FOREVER still. . .

Please pray that they expedite on his account and that they help us get him home where his life won't be in "imminent danger" any more.  Those two words haunt me in my sleep. . . I need to make those words no longer exist for my little boy and tuck all three into their beds at night where they are safe and loved.   

You can help be a part of this end part of their journey home by CLICKING HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT OUR GIVEAWAY!