Christmas with my family was wonderful. 26 of us were together at my brother's house for two full days and it was great. My neices were especially interested in when their new cousin would be coming. She is going to be a very blessed girl to be a part of this family and she will receive lots of attention!
My adoption agency had a conference call for all Kazakhstan adoptive families--there were close to 50 that participated and it was really great. They were very honest about what is going on in the International Adoption world as well as in Kaz and why the waits are increasing. It seems that Kazakhstan families are adopting more children and they get first priority and also many other countries are getting much harder to adopt from so many more families are turning to Kaz than ever did before. They also shared some sad facts--a couple families came home without a child because they were only shown children with very severe medical problems and also shared the good stories of families that found their child across the world in Kaz. The whole process of International Adoption is a very long and winding journey that requires the traveler to be quite flexible and patient. Three things were quite evident to me in the conference call 1) Most families going through this have the same fears and anxieties and give great support to each other and 2) the staff at our agency are very concerned about the process and outcome for each family and are working very hard to make it as good as they possibly can and 3) the adoptive parents need to make themselves as educated as possible and as prepared as possible to face whatever comes up along the way.
Realistically, I have quite a few months to wait yet. I hope to have my daughter home by the end of the year but until that time I will follow the advice of many adoptive parents before me and try not to put anything off.
Some things I have on my list are:
1. Read more of the adoption books I have--I seem to get about half way through each one.
2. get in better shape
3. Prepare my house--I have a couple small remodeling projects I would like to complete as well as decorating my daughters room. I do have the bedding and curtains bought but that is about all.
4. Make a book of my family and home to leave with my daughter in Kaz
5. Prepare all my bills to be paid while I am gone.
6. Prepare my packing list and make sure I have everything I think I need.
7. Buy a video camera
8. Save more money and vacation time--my plan is to have 3 months of paid vacation built up before I travel and I am nearly there.
As I make my list, it sounds like I have done nothing to prepare but that is not the case--there is just always more to think about. Even though the wait is longer than expected, I think it will go by quickly and I will still feel unprepared (but oh so ready) when it arrives.
Lastly I will continue to pray that the Lord leads and directs my agency and the Kazakhstan officials and takes me to Kazakhstan for my daughter in his perfect timing.
I will quote the refrain from one of my favorite songs--
I don't regret the rain
or the nights I felt the pain
or the tears I had to cry some of the times along the way
Every road I had to take
Every time my heart would break
It was just something that I had to get through
To get me to you.
To get me to you.
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2 comments:
I love that your agency had this conference call. That is a rare and wonderful blessing. We worked with an agency that tried to keep it's clients from talking to each other. (they are shut down now, which is a very good thing) It sounds like your agency is being very honest and helpful with you all.
I just came across your blog, by the way. Hope you don't mind if I follow along on your journey. We adopted from Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan in March 07.
You are lucky that you can store up 3 months of vacation. We get 3 weeks a year and can also carry over 1 week. So the most paid vacation, we can take is a month and the rest of that time is all unpaid.
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