Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Good News! And, slightly less good news!


So, first the Good News… We’re OFFICIALLY MATCHED!! YAY!! A very large, important, step that we are now past. This means that John-Patrik is ours according to the Lithuanian Central Authority! They read through our Home Study, went through our paperwork, and liked us and don’t require any additional documentation or information. Excellent! (We like you too, LCA!!)

And now for the slightly less good news… We will not be traveling until Aug. / Sept. (*sigh*) Yes, I’m disappointed. VERY. I thought we were just weeks from traveling and the much awaited meeting of our son. But I was wrong. And this is why… In our “Adoption Process Guidebook” that the agency gave us it goes from sending off your Dossier in section 5, to section 6: “Preparing to Travel”. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE our adoption agency and would refer anyone to them! They’ve been efficient, attentive, and supportive! We’ve never had to wait more than I couple of hours to hear back from them about anything; they rock! (An Open Door Adoption Agency out of GA.) They just need to update the guidebook is all. The other reason I thought we’d be leaving sooner is because the I-800A approval only took 30 days instead of 70. And it did knock off a month and a half, but not enough to go get him before August. So now that we’re matched with our Little-Bit a bunch of other stuff can finally happen in order for us to move forward, each item needing a few weeks respectively:

Our contact in Lithuania receives the official proposal matching us to John-Patrik from the Central Authority

She translates it and sends to us via email.

We ask questions and/or accept the proposal.

Our contact gets permission from the LCA to visit John-Patrik…

She visits him, talks to caregivers, teachers, doctor’s, takes new pictures. She sends information and pictures to us.

We formally accept referral.

Article 17 letter issued

We file the I800 with USCIS (second half of the I-800A process for immigration)

US Embassy in Lithuania issues the article 5 letter.

We file the DS260 immigrant visa form online

Agency’s lawyer takes documents to court and the computer randomly assigns us a judge

Once judge is assigned, the lawyer speaks to judge and gets court date

Then we plan travel.

Also, while all this is happening John-Patrik will be getting another round of many doctor and therapist visits and an updated, full-disclosure, medical report. Whereas before we got a brief overview, this report will be much more detailed.



Although the later travel is disappointing, I’m really trying to keep perspective and stay positive.
 First, God’s timing is best… Period. 
 Second, the disappointment cannot overshadow the awesome news that we’re officially matched; He’s OURS!!! (WOO HOO!!) 
 3rd, having our travel time later puts us into off-season pricing which means food, airfare, and lodging will be significantly less expensive and that is a really good thing!
4th, It also means that we have plenty of time to comfortably raise the remaining funds.
5th, is that I don’t need to think about how my garden will get harvested, canned, frozen, & of course eaten. Nothing will be accidently wasted! 
 And the 6th reason I can be positive is that now I have even more time to study Downs Syndrome.



No, I didn’t want to wait even longer, but this really isn’t about me. Like, at all. This has been God-driven from day one and, as much as my humanness wants to take ownership of it, it’s not mine. It takes effort, diligence even, to keep myself from trying to take it out of God’s perfectly capable, Mighty hands. We just really wanted to meet John-Patrik, and we will… just a little later.



In other news… Thank you to everyone who donated for our garage sale! We raised a nice amount that gets us that much closer to Little-Bit!

AND, Thank You to Jody Price for the changing table! (My back thanks you too!) And Thank you to Lisa Melo who donated the crib, portable highchair, shopping cart cover, sheets, and pretty much John-Patrik’s entire 4T wardrobe!! You guys are awesome! 



Feeling very blessed.



All for Him,

Meg (and Rich)