The start of school hit me like a ton of bricks. The paperwork, the fast paced schedule, anxious middle schooler! (No new pics of Jude, although I have reserved some for later posts)
Also, came the home study packet. There are 26 things we need to do before we can send it back. When we do, that will start the home study. Then there are about 10 things (including hours of education) that we have to complete before the home study visits conclude. (Then many more steps)
Some examples of the 26 things:
1. Pay the home study fee- okay, not time consuming (Amazing that after 10 months of unemployment we are able to do this. Praise our Provider!)
7. Individual autobiographies following a detailed outline (phew- dug up the one from Alyona- this one only took me an hour to modify. Perry still working on his)
16. proof of health insurance for adopted child - shouldn't be hard, but Perry starts his job tomorrow, so benefit info still pending.
22. Doctor examination of all 5 of us,( HIV test, Hep B, Tuberculosis for adults). This one was more time consuming than other numbers. Here we are 4 business days to get 5 appointments in while Perry isn't working. Our doctors got the 2 of us in on Wed (my only available day) and had the results of our blood work for us when we got our TB test read on Friday! The nurse, herself adopted, worked diligently to make sure our physicals matched. She said it was a privilege to help us. She knows first hand the blessing of adoption.
I called the pediatrician on Tuesday and before I did I whispered a prayer, "Lord, go before me. We have one available time to make this happen, late Friday afternoon. ". I called. The ONLY nurse who knows me answered the phone! "Hey Mindy, going to sound crazy, but I was wondering if the doctor would see all my kids as late as possible Friday to fill out these forms?" She goes right to ask the doctor directly and comes back to the line, "Dr. Sutherland would be happy to see all three kids at 4PM Friday!"
Okay- checking these numbers off.
Right now the ball is in our court. I started working on this packet Monday, and I hope to get it in the mail by week's end. This is of course the tip of the iceberg. At least the mailing of the papers will put the ball in someone else's court.
Daily someone will remember something Jude did. We will chuckle or sing his favorite Chinese songs (none of us know what we are saying). Man, we miss him!
Prayer requests:
- Jude's protection- physically, emotionally, spiritually. Also, I'm asking the Lord to give him hope that we are coming for him
- Perry- his job official starts tomorrow (although he has volunteered 2 x/week at this place since May) this will be the first time in 10 months he will work all day! And although he could handle that, most days he is working 4-5 hours tutoring in addition. We don't want to turn down the tutoring gigs, especially since their busy season is finite, but 12 hour days are long for that introvert.
- Our new groove- we need to get into a good school routine. I am back to teaching 2.5 days a week, babysitting before and after school daily (Perry Care), adoption papers, dog sitting and normal life. I am feeling sustained by the Lord, not melting in a pile of crazy (yet), but need to pace myself.
- Praise for the Body of Christ and all of the encouragement and excitement they are sharing with us.
Love you all! You all are amazing! 😘👍🏻
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