Tape. Red that is. Government, bureaucracy.
While I admit I *think* I have a better handle on the unexpectedness of adoption this time around, I am still impatient. I also still find myself "concerned" about the details.
We have noticed (and it has been pointed out to us), that families who passed court 3 weeks after us are already home with their children. On top of that, families who just passed early in April have May 19th embassy dates. Hmmmm. We passed on February 1st (although I noticed that the adoption paperwork from Ethiopia says February 2nd). But still no embassy date. We know the I600 (the document that is filed to classify your child as a relative) was filed by our agency on March 22nd, and we received written confirmation that USCIS did in fact receive it on March 24th. So where is our embassy date?
I finally stopped wondering and broke down and asked our agency. We were told that the notice we received from USCIS verifying that they had received the I600 application, simply means that it was received in their central lock box (I think this was in Missouri). From there it was sent to our local USCIS office (Detroit), and they are NOTORIOUSLY SLOW in terms of processing anything. While I knew this, I guess it did not occur to us that the notice we received did not mean Detroit had our file yet-which is where all of the action will take place. I pulled out a copy of our immigration approval, and the cover letter listed some of the common applications and the respective processing times for the Detroit office. I almost fell out of my chair! They listed 3 months as the processing time for the I600! T-H-R-E-E MONTHS! This does not include the time it will take to then get an embassy date, OR the additional time it will take to get the escorting arranged! YIKES! Math is not my strong suit, but it seems to me 3 mos will be sometime after June 24th, then another month (or so) to get an embassy appointment, THEN about another month to have the escorting arranged. According to my math, it looks like.......August?
I keep re-reading some encouraging e-mails and Facebook messages from some of my Christian friends, reminding me it is not in *my* time, and that worrying will not do me any favors. Most recently, my friend Anne reminded me "God already knows our future, and even if we're craning our necks to try and figure it out we aren't going to accomplish a thing except wasted energy and frustration. Trust Him. His best is a whole lot better than ours."
I am reminding myself of that constantly.
On a more positive note. AlinaJayne had a good, healthy week. No headaches, no fevers, no infections-just one nosebleed that stopped with a nose clamp and Afrin nasal spray. She still needs to see the specialist in May, but we welcome the good week. Plus, she gained back the 3 pounds she lost in the hospital. My Dad had to undergo some unexpected cardiac testing Friday (stress test Monday which was abnormal/different than the last, and then a cardiac cath on Friday) and he does not need another bypass or more stents at this time. PRAISE THE LORD!!!
So there you have it. See, I promised to keep this blog updated now :O)
