Submitting 4 Court

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” Isaiah 58:9

Don’t even get me started on this entire passage or I’ll be typing for days!  For right now – I need to focus on “Here am I”.

The last 24 hours have been yet another whirlwind.  I knew that our agency was REALLY pushing for us to make it to court before the rainy season, but yesterday morning I was told  - “We want to submit your case for court Monday.”

WHAT?

I’ve not received my completed homestudy! Here am I

I’ve not been able to apply for a change of country on our orphan petition form BECAUSE I don’t have a completed homestudy! Here am I

I’ve not been to the county clerks office to get our county seal on the documents because I don’t have a completed homestudy! Here am I

I’ve not been to the state office to get our state seal on the documents because I don’t have a completed homestudy! Here am I

I’ve not called Assisted Stork to courier our documents to Washington because I don’t have a completed homestudy! Here am I

At 12:30 PM the mail comes. IT’S OUR COMPLETED HOMESTUDY! Here am I

 My chest tightens and I really start to freak out about all that I have to do. You can ask Russ…. Or my kids.  Total panic mode.  My kitchen table is a mess with documents immediately.  I’m making copies, phones calls, etc… Here am I

At 3:00 PM I leave to go get our documents authenticated and traffic is horrible!  At 4:10 PM I’m almost to the Davidson Country Clerk’s office but call to see when they close (which is 4:30).  During that phone call I feel a nudge to look at my paperwork again.  I have two pages that need to be sealed by the county clerk (they verify the notary). One document was signed with a Robertson County notary stamp and the other with a Wilson Country notary stamp. Ugh – you have got to be kidding me!! The Davidson County office can’t verify a notary in Robertson or Wilson County.  FRUSTRATION! Here am I

4:20 PM I’m headed back home. I've not even had time to eat all day! I pull over for a snack and  text a friend who is a notary in the correct county.  She agrees to help ASAP. Here am I 

7:45 PM The last of the copies are ready from Staples.  I have everything in order to put in the mail for Saturday. Here am I

As I’m putting my documents for the orphan petition form in the envelope I notice something. Here am I

There is an error on our homestudy regarding our age range.  The range for the child(ren) we hope to adopt is 0 – 6 years old.  “Y” could even be 7 years old – we aren’t sure.  It can’t say 0 – 6!  We can’t adopt him if it says 0 -6! This should be 0 – 8 years old! Disappointed. Angry. Here am I

8:30 PM Connected with the adoption agency.  They are going to move forward and submit to court with current papers!  HOWEVER – I have to get all this corrected ASAP.  Absolute miracle. Here am I

It’s very possible that we will still not make court before they close in August.  As a matter of fact – logically, it’s impossible.  And if that happens, I’ll need to look back and see all the “Here am I’s” over this 1 ½ years journey to maintain sanity.  He will not leave us.  He will not forsake us.  He is in control.