I have been thinking about things lately, and reflecting. I have a pretty good commute to and from work--about 25-35 minutes with no traffic--so I have lots of time for ruminating. :) Specifically, this week I was listening to a Christian radio program and the guy was talking about suffering. It got me to thinking. Are we suffering through this adoption process? No.
I thought of how little disappointment we have actually had. No miscarriages. No children placed with us and then removed back to their birthparents. Our entire process has been one of hope, not disappointment, and it will continue to be that. I think of the many families around the world, particularly in countries of war or civil unrest. I think of the mothers who have watched their children be torn from their arms...sold into slavery, conscripted into the army or rebellion forces...or worse. Things could be so much more painful, and for many others they are.
I am so grateful to be in a place where all I can do is hope.
Thank you, Lord, for hope.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Slowly but surely
I tell you, it is a process trying to get things done, or in this case, re-done!
We need to send in notarized and apostilled copies of our doctors' licenses, as the ones currently in Ukraine expired at the end of Jan 2005. So far, my doctor's office did it but without the needed signatures (at least partially, if not entirely, my fault) and Mark's doctor's office had both signatures on it (the doctor and the notary) but the notary's statement says "sworn to and subscribed before me this 3rd day of March 2006". Not a problem, except the doctor's signature is dated Feb 28 2006! That won't fly with the apostilling office. *sigh* So now everything goes back again. I do feel bad asking people to do this over and over again. It's not fun for them and it's not fun for us either.
I'm supposed to be contacting our social worker as well to get our HS updated, as it was completed last April. It's hard to believe we've already been at this for over a year. We're still pondering what to do after May 1. May 1 is when the new government division takes over the adoption process. But it's looking like they still may not reopen to US dossiers, and we aren't sure what we're going to do if that happens. We could continue to wait it out, but we can't really afford to keep redoing paperwork every year, and it is possible Ukraine could be shut down for a long time. It's also possible they could reopen May 1. *wry grin*
In the meantime, we're performing at a ball at the end of March, we've got family coming up in mid-April for a musical we're performing in, and we're heading to Texas a few weeks after that for a wedding. Trying to stay busy (well, okay, we're not really trying--it comes naturally) keeps our minds off of everything else. Besides, we probably won't have time to do a lot of the things we do now once we have kids, so we better get as much of it in now as we can!
We need to send in notarized and apostilled copies of our doctors' licenses, as the ones currently in Ukraine expired at the end of Jan 2005. So far, my doctor's office did it but without the needed signatures (at least partially, if not entirely, my fault) and Mark's doctor's office had both signatures on it (the doctor and the notary) but the notary's statement says "sworn to and subscribed before me this 3rd day of March 2006". Not a problem, except the doctor's signature is dated Feb 28 2006! That won't fly with the apostilling office. *sigh* So now everything goes back again. I do feel bad asking people to do this over and over again. It's not fun for them and it's not fun for us either.
I'm supposed to be contacting our social worker as well to get our HS updated, as it was completed last April. It's hard to believe we've already been at this for over a year. We're still pondering what to do after May 1. May 1 is when the new government division takes over the adoption process. But it's looking like they still may not reopen to US dossiers, and we aren't sure what we're going to do if that happens. We could continue to wait it out, but we can't really afford to keep redoing paperwork every year, and it is possible Ukraine could be shut down for a long time. It's also possible they could reopen May 1. *wry grin*
In the meantime, we're performing at a ball at the end of March, we've got family coming up in mid-April for a musical we're performing in, and we're heading to Texas a few weeks after that for a wedding. Trying to stay busy (well, okay, we're not really trying--it comes naturally) keeps our minds off of everything else. Besides, we probably won't have time to do a lot of the things we do now once we have kids, so we better get as much of it in now as we can!
Friday, February 17, 2006
Appointments for all!...well, most...er, some
The NAC has started issing appointments! We know of a number of families who now have appointments in early March. Unfortunately for us, they are only issuing appointments to those families who were registered before the shutdown. And unfortunately for many of them, the NAC appears to be going in chronological order by when the dossiers were received. Since there are families who were registered last May(!) and the shutdown didn't occur until September, you might notice that there would be cause for a small bottleneck here. Okay, a rather large bottleneck. There are believed to be about 1000 families who were registered from May to September who did not receive appointments last year--plus the families who had appointments but did not find a child and are being invited to return. The basic idea of all of this is that it's probably going to be awhile before we're going to Ukraine...to put it mildly.
Yes, it's very frustrating. While we still believe that God has a plan and that it simply may not involve us going to Ukraine before autumn, it doesn't mean we're particularly thrilled with it. While I would love to say that we can be patient and wait, etc., etc.--which is true!--there are days it is really...really...hard. There are tears, there is frustration, there is anger over parents who beat their children, neglect them, poison them. Why would God give them such a precious gift when they don't appreciate what they have? Why do they have the opportunity to ruin their children's lives, when we don't have the opportunity to love them, cherish them, hold them?
Only God knows the answer, and I can't begin to wrap my feeble human brain around the plans He has. I know that when the plans we think are so wonderful fail, He has an even more marvelous plan that is beyond our comprehension. Even in my sadness and pain, I am excited to see what God has planned for us. It will be quite a journey.
Yes, it's very frustrating. While we still believe that God has a plan and that it simply may not involve us going to Ukraine before autumn, it doesn't mean we're particularly thrilled with it. While I would love to say that we can be patient and wait, etc., etc.--which is true!--there are days it is really...really...hard. There are tears, there is frustration, there is anger over parents who beat their children, neglect them, poison them. Why would God give them such a precious gift when they don't appreciate what they have? Why do they have the opportunity to ruin their children's lives, when we don't have the opportunity to love them, cherish them, hold them?
Only God knows the answer, and I can't begin to wrap my feeble human brain around the plans He has. I know that when the plans we think are so wonderful fail, He has an even more marvelous plan that is beyond our comprehension. Even in my sadness and pain, I am excited to see what God has planned for us. It will be quite a journey.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Latest word from the embassy
The U.S. Embassy released another notice today stating that the law has been signed by Pres. Yushchenko giving the NAC temporary authority until May 1, when the new ministry will take over adoptions. That would be the general summary. :) The important part for us comes in the FAQs they listed at the end:
"Q: Will the NAC accept all new adoption dossiers after it re-opens?
A: The NAC has advised that previous restrictions on acceptance of new dossiers will remain in effect. (See our earlier notices regarding the Government of Ukraine’s concern about the non-compliance rate by American adoptive parents with regard to post-adoption reporting, which is required under Ukrainian law.) The NAC will only accept dossiers filed by U.S. citizens on behalf of certain categories of orphans: siblings of previously adopted children; older children; and children with serious health problems. "
sigh...looks like our dossier will continue to wait in Ukraine. From what we can gather, our dossier will most likely be submitted in May, after the new ministry takes over. That means that we probably won't travel until late summer or fall, which could be very good. Plane tickets will be cheaper and Mark will be that much closer to finishing grad school. Plus, we'll have plenty of time to paint the room that still hasn't been painted. ;)
"Q: Will the NAC accept all new adoption dossiers after it re-opens?
A: The NAC has advised that previous restrictions on acceptance of new dossiers will remain in effect. (See our earlier notices regarding the Government of Ukraine’s concern about the non-compliance rate by American adoptive parents with regard to post-adoption reporting, which is required under Ukrainian law.) The NAC will only accept dossiers filed by U.S. citizens on behalf of certain categories of orphans: siblings of previously adopted children; older children; and children with serious health problems. "
sigh...looks like our dossier will continue to wait in Ukraine. From what we can gather, our dossier will most likely be submitted in May, after the new ministry takes over. That means that we probably won't travel until late summer or fall, which could be very good. Plane tickets will be cheaper and Mark will be that much closer to finishing grad school. Plus, we'll have plenty of time to paint the room that still hasn't been painted. ;)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
The rumors fly...
I realized I have been remiss in posting to all of you regarding news about adoption in Ukraine. So, here goes... (n.b.: much of the following text is taken verbatim from U.S. Embassy notices to the adoption community)
****
On December 20, 2005, Pres. Yushchenko signed a law transferring authority over adoptions from the Ministry of Education (who has jurisdiction over the NAC) to the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports, which will have jurisdiction over the new State Dept for Adoption and Protection of Children. This law went into effect on Dec 22, 2005, thus removing the NAC of the legal authority to process adoptions. However, the new State Dept for Adoption and Protection of Children has not yet been formed. Unfortunately, since the former central authority (the National Adoption Center under the Ministry of Education) no longer had jurisdiction over adoptions as of Dec 22, and the new adoption authority under the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports had not yet been established, a jurisdiction and processing gap was created, with no Ukrainian ministries’ having the authority to handle adoptions. Thus, there was a large problem for people in Ukraine trying to complete adoptions--no one could sign off on their paperwork, since no one had authority. At least 40 U.S. families were stranded in Ukraine, unable to complete their adoptions.
As of January 11, the Ukrainian parliament (Rada) was scheduled to review a draft law on this subject that would allow the NAC to retain interim authority over adoptions until May 1, 2006, at which time the new authority is expected to be in place.
On January 12, the Rada passed law 8680 giving interim authority over adoptions back to the Ministry of Education’s National Adoption Center (NAC) until the new adoption authority is legally established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. The law will come into effect as soon as it is signed by the President, who has up to 15 days to review it. The NAC has informed the Embassy that as soon as the law is signed by the President, the center will be reopened.
****
By the title of the post, I am referring to the many rumors we hear daily. "The NAC will reopen and begin accepting dossiers this week." "The NAC won't begin accepting new dossiers until May." "The procedures for adoption will change and the referral system will be different." "The referral system will remain the same even after the new ministry takes over." Needless to say, we take all of the rumors with a grain of salt. ;) We continue to wait to hear definite, official news. We are obtaining new notarized copies of our doctors' licenses since MO licenses expire in January each year. We will be sending those over to Ukraine shortly so that if someone does start accepting new dossiers, our paperwork will be ready to go. Nothing else in our dossier starts expiring until April, but since we won't be traveling before then (it would take a miracle) we will definitely need to redo other paperwork before we go.
Please pray for the people of Ukraine, Georgia, Russia and the other European countries who are suffering from a cold spell there. As of today, 181 people have died over the past 5 days due to the extreme temperatures (-13 F, -25 C) in Ukraine.
****
On December 20, 2005, Pres. Yushchenko signed a law transferring authority over adoptions from the Ministry of Education (who has jurisdiction over the NAC) to the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports, which will have jurisdiction over the new State Dept for Adoption and Protection of Children. This law went into effect on Dec 22, 2005, thus removing the NAC of the legal authority to process adoptions. However, the new State Dept for Adoption and Protection of Children has not yet been formed. Unfortunately, since the former central authority (the National Adoption Center under the Ministry of Education) no longer had jurisdiction over adoptions as of Dec 22, and the new adoption authority under the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports had not yet been established, a jurisdiction and processing gap was created, with no Ukrainian ministries’ having the authority to handle adoptions. Thus, there was a large problem for people in Ukraine trying to complete adoptions--no one could sign off on their paperwork, since no one had authority. At least 40 U.S. families were stranded in Ukraine, unable to complete their adoptions.
As of January 11, the Ukrainian parliament (Rada) was scheduled to review a draft law on this subject that would allow the NAC to retain interim authority over adoptions until May 1, 2006, at which time the new authority is expected to be in place.
On January 12, the Rada passed law 8680 giving interim authority over adoptions back to the Ministry of Education’s National Adoption Center (NAC) until the new adoption authority is legally established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. The law will come into effect as soon as it is signed by the President, who has up to 15 days to review it. The NAC has informed the Embassy that as soon as the law is signed by the President, the center will be reopened.
****
By the title of the post, I am referring to the many rumors we hear daily. "The NAC will reopen and begin accepting dossiers this week." "The NAC won't begin accepting new dossiers until May." "The procedures for adoption will change and the referral system will be different." "The referral system will remain the same even after the new ministry takes over." Needless to say, we take all of the rumors with a grain of salt. ;) We continue to wait to hear definite, official news. We are obtaining new notarized copies of our doctors' licenses since MO licenses expire in January each year. We will be sending those over to Ukraine shortly so that if someone does start accepting new dossiers, our paperwork will be ready to go. Nothing else in our dossier starts expiring until April, but since we won't be traveling before then (it would take a miracle) we will definitely need to redo other paperwork before we go.
Please pray for the people of Ukraine, Georgia, Russia and the other European countries who are suffering from a cold spell there. As of today, 181 people have died over the past 5 days due to the extreme temperatures (-13 F, -25 C) in Ukraine.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Winter
I am watching the snow blow by on what is definitely a wintry day. I have been meaning to post for awhile on this particular subject, as I had a bit of an epiphany the other day. I was musing about the weather, and the winter, and how we look forward to spring, and began to see parallels to our adoption process.
Right now it is cold, and dark, and everything is hibernating (or, like me, wants to be ;) ). We don't know what is happening in Ukraine, only that changes are being made. Occasionally we have a warm spell and we begin to see hints of green on the trees or the ground, only to have them fade as the cold returns. We have heard many rumors of Ukraine reopening, what may happen, etc., however, they always fade away as Ukraine continues to try to readjust their adoption process. Soon, it will truly be spring. Flowers will bloom, the sun will shine, and we will forget the bitter-cold days and how it seemed they would last forever. Someday, hopefully soon, we will be home again with our children. This winter of waiting will fade as a memory, but perhaps not so cold or difficult in memory as it feels to endure now. We continue to wait and hope, knowing that spring will come, both as a season and as a family.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. Most of all, please pray for our children. Please pray that they stay warm and healthy this winter, and that God would give them someone to love them and hold them while they wait for us. Like many of you, we look forward with great anticipation to the day we will be able to post that Ukraine has reopened.
Right now it is cold, and dark, and everything is hibernating (or, like me, wants to be ;) ). We don't know what is happening in Ukraine, only that changes are being made. Occasionally we have a warm spell and we begin to see hints of green on the trees or the ground, only to have them fade as the cold returns. We have heard many rumors of Ukraine reopening, what may happen, etc., however, they always fade away as Ukraine continues to try to readjust their adoption process. Soon, it will truly be spring. Flowers will bloom, the sun will shine, and we will forget the bitter-cold days and how it seemed they would last forever. Someday, hopefully soon, we will be home again with our children. This winter of waiting will fade as a memory, but perhaps not so cold or difficult in memory as it feels to endure now. We continue to wait and hope, knowing that spring will come, both as a season and as a family.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. Most of all, please pray for our children. Please pray that they stay warm and healthy this winter, and that God would give them someone to love them and hold them while they wait for us. Like many of you, we look forward with great anticipation to the day we will be able to post that Ukraine has reopened.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Distractions
I realized it's been awhile since I've posted, but there's just not much going on in regards to the adoption. There is, as usual, lots going on not related to the adoption. We had a momentary glimpse of parenthood a few weeks ago, when we were offered the opportunity to pursue a domestic adoption. If it had worked out, we would have become parents within the week the opportunity presented itself. However, for reasons I am not going to go into here, it did not work out. We prayed long and hard about this decision, and requested prayer from others, for clarity and wisdom about pursuing this. It was made very clear to us that this was not what God had planned to build our family.
Our pastor spoke a few weeks ago about the things that distract us from the journey God has for us. There have been numerous times during the adoption process when we have been presented with other options to build our family. I always wondered why God would show these to us and then take them away. I no longer believe that. I believe that these other opportunities are distractions, meant to guide us away from what God truly has planned for us if we are willing to wait on His timing. When we pray and truly seek His guidance for our decision-making, every opportunity has fallen through, and not once have we felt grief or distress from that, only "peace which surpasses all understanding"(Philippians 4:7). It is hard to wait, but we will continue to seek God's will for our family and hope that we will build our family before we are Sarai and Abram's age. ;)
Our pastor spoke a few weeks ago about the things that distract us from the journey God has for us. There have been numerous times during the adoption process when we have been presented with other options to build our family. I always wondered why God would show these to us and then take them away. I no longer believe that. I believe that these other opportunities are distractions, meant to guide us away from what God truly has planned for us if we are willing to wait on His timing. When we pray and truly seek His guidance for our decision-making, every opportunity has fallen through, and not once have we felt grief or distress from that, only "peace which surpasses all understanding"(Philippians 4:7). It is hard to wait, but we will continue to seek God's will for our family and hope that we will build our family before we are Sarai and Abram's age. ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)