Over one hurdle and onto the next

The Mayor finally submitted the paperwork the judge had requested. Thank goodness! That was a long delay and I'm thankful it's done.

She also told us the First Decree has not been issued yet. I wasn't sure we would be notified when that happened and so I sort of assumed it already had. But no such luck. The judge can decide to waive the decree (and the wait while it's published in the newspaper), but since the judge has yet to show much urgency with our case, I'm not counting on that.

Then the final bit of news. The Chinese New Years is on Feb 10 this year. Our agency spoke to the orphanage and they said that realistically our case will not be finished before the New Year celebration. Naturally, the courts close down for a week to celebrate the CNY. Another week delay. That puts them back at work week of the 18th and if there are other things in the case for the court to do, it could be a few weeks after that. And after the adoption is final, they will call us and schedule our travel which is typically about 4 weeks later.

Suddenly, our "should be going to get her around November" has turned into March, probably April timeframe...if we're lucky. Perhaps even May.

I can't describe how disappointed I am. I want to blame someone, make calls to fix it, impress upon someone, somewhere that these delays are pointless and that she needs to be home with us already. But there is no someone, somewhere. Just lots of prayer, deep breaths, and just plain getting over it. You don't have any other choice.

I thank God for this deep desire and longing for her. I know God's timing is perfect. And we are learning patience like never before. Because of Him we are adding this beautiful little girl to our family...we get to parent her. I recognize what a miracle this is. I know it will all be more than worth this wait. But days like today are still frustrating.

I realized that one thing that I'm HORRIBLE at is doing the whole "not knowing" thing. Boy am I becoming an expert at that now. No idea how it's really going there or what's left on the case to do. No idea of who the judge is or how he typically rules on these things. There is no meter around here (trust me I've thought about how great that would be) that shows you how close you are to the end. Wouldn't that be awesome? You'd know not to get excited yet because the red line hasn't reached the top yet. Or you'd know it's nearly time..the case is moving. Yup..we need an adoption meter. I want one installed immediately please.

So there's the latest. Praying that things suddenly move faster and maybe we can go get her before the Chinese New Year. I won't stop praying that things go more quickly until we get that call. A girl can always hope and pray right?