Sunday 14 November 2010

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

Any new news on the adoption? Um...no. I wish. This one will probably be quite a wait.

I knew entering into this adoption that we would be waiting much longer than we did with Tommy's. Or, at least, much differently.

With Tommy, we waited about five months for our match with him. Those months were excruciating, as we were matched and then unmatched with a child whose circumstances should never have led to a referral, found out that our international agency was not as ethical as we were led to believe, and later found out that someone at our agency had actually deliberately stalled our final match. Lovely.

That said, God absolutely used all of that to bring us together with our precious boy. Therefore, I am glad that I suffered during that time, although then I certainly did not feel that way. I wish that God would have found a more pleasant way to bring our family about, but every single tear I shed led me one step closer to my amazing son. I'm trying to hold on to this perspective as we wait for Mtoto to come home.

This time around the process is different. We were matched with Mtoto within weeks of receiving our visa approval, and now we will be waiting on the slow wheels of bureaucracy to turn, while he gets older, and someone else gets to witness all of his firsts. I know I missed all of that with Tommy too, but I didn't know I was missing it, and knowing does make a difference. This part of waiting is hard.

However, waiting with a child at home is far easier than waiting without one. The house is full of laughter, we get tons of "slobby kisses" (as T refers to the wet ones), and we are both rather distracted by his many hijinks. I'm guessing this wait has also been easier because our wounds from losing Leah are no longer as fresh. We aren't simultaneously mourning and waiting, and, we no longer have the "what if we never have a child" scenario in the back of our minds.

We know that our paperwork is with our lawyer and that he is pursuing a court hearing for us, and has been since mid-October. Unless something is wrong with our paperwork, we likely will not know about our hearing until it is finished and we have received approval. It is a little disconcerting to know that someone across the world is deciding your fate without having any idea of when that might be happening. We have been told that cases are currently averaging two to three months to get through court. Right now our prayer is for a quick hearing and a positive ruling, and lots of patience as we wait. We know the timing of everything is in God's hands, and when there is new news we will be sure to share.

2 comments:

susie lavender said...

Still praying for you all. You have wonderful faith. Thanks for sharing with us.

Sweet Apron said...

Praying right alongside you.

By the way, you make those hijinks sound charming. :) From one hijink-loving mom to another...