If you're wondering where I've been, it's HERE.
I finally have some good news to report! Our homestudy text is finished! I say "text" because it's not really official yet. We're still waiting on a signature from someone - it's always something! We've been waiting for this person for two weeks now, and it's starting to annoy me, because of her other recent instances of poor communication. BUT. We are making progress and that's great! I was starting to hate the question "how is the adoption process going" but now I have good news to report! We will be sending our I600 form (immigration) out within the next few days, to beat the fee increase, and then the homestudy will follow close behind! In the meantime I am gathering the paperwork needed for our dossier, with my goal of having it in the mail by January 1. Pray for a smooth process!
Lately I have felt like God has been reminding me that He is here. Just the simple fact that He's here. I love the feeling of knowing He's got me surrounded, that His hands are in my life. I am basking in this, and it's been great. It makes me slightly nervous, though, that He's letting me know this because in the very near future I might NEED to know it. I am trying to hold those feelings at bay though and just enjoy spending time with ABBA. I wish I had some more great words about that, but a writer I am not :).
Now, the worries...We recently learned that Ukraine might close international adoptions for awhile. We don't know when, for how long, or even if it will happen. They (the Ukrainians) voted to become Hague-compliant, which is a good thing, but they would close adoptions to do so. They will have another vote that needs to go through, and we don't know when that will happen. After that, the president needs to approve it. Ukraine is known for not doing anything simply, and the moratorium could last MONTHS while kids at risk lose out on any chance of rescue. We are all praying that IF it closes, it won't be til after we get Joshua home. Our Reece's Rainbow teams have people working on both sides of the ocean, advocating for the kids. They are working to have the moratorium not affect special needs adoptions, since these kids so desperately need to get out. Here is a statement from Andrea, founder of RR:
"IF they do indeed put a moratorium in place, we are advocating HARD with Congressional Leaders, the US State Dept, the US Embassy in Kyiv, and our facilitation teams on the ground there in Ukraine... to make sure the voice of these children is heard, and that the parliament there understands the life-altering gravity of their decision to impose a closure, even for a short period of time. Even under the guise of improving the process or moving towards Hague compliance, this would be nothing short of a human rights violation, to prevent the adoption of those children with special needs."
