I stepped away from the blog for a bit but I thought I'd update it, mostly so I have a record of this journey.

Our home study was officially completed in February. It was translated by our placement agency and then sent on to St. Lucy's in Taiwan. Every step is so exciting and gets us closer to bringing her home.

We've been waiting for orphanage approval for several weeks now. There's been quite a delay and so we began to ask questions. This is what we were told. St. Lucy's is undergoing an inspection by the government of Taiwan. This inspection happens every 3 years and it keeps the orphanage director extremely busy. Catholic Charities also wants St. Lucy's (in Tainan City) to open up an office in Taipei so the director is not only managing the big inspection, but she is traveling and devoting time to finding space for an office. This means our package sits on her desk and awaits her approval.

It's just standard for us at this point that the situation "isn't typical" and that the delays are unusual. Of course it is! There was a time when it would have driven me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I want this approval to happen so that we can begin all of the court processes there, and do a few more things on our end. But a large part of me keep remembering that God is in control and for whatever reason, this delay is happening...and I just need to shut up and let it happen.

Of course I can't know for sure but we believe that we now know why there has been such a delay. Andy was notified a week ago that he has to deploy on June 11 for 140 days. This deployment is pretty interesting as it's a stateside deployment and not the usual 6+ months. He was chosen to be a Det commander at one of the pre-deployment training bases. As far as deployments go, this is a pretty good deal. He doesn't have to be in the war zone, won't be gone as long, and will be on the same time-zone and have easy access to email, Skype, and phones.

As a side note I prayed he would not be sent to Afghanistan or Iraq this summer and be gone for 6+ months. I prayed specifically and well, God answered those prayers huh? lol

Upon learning of this deployment our first concern was that he probably won't be home in time to go to Taiwan and pick up K. But as each day passes, and the weeks add up, the 4-5 months left in the process begin to stretch out to the end of October!

We don't know anything for sure but I think/pray he'll be back in time to go with me.

If not, we have a  contingency plan of my sister and mom going with me. I know I'd enjoy this trip of a lifetime with them. I love that we'd always have such a special memory of that together. So, not my ideal, but definitely okay if it happens.