INS

Finally!

After four months waiting, we received INS approval of our I600A - Advanced Processing of an Orphan.

If you've read my posts about our adoption, you'll know that this had to be obtained before our dossier could be sent to China. I'm not sure why, but our adoption coordinator didn't ask us to apply for the I600A until our homestudy was almost complete. The end result of this was that we've had a complete homestudy for four months and have not been able to move forward with the adoption because we didn't have our I600A.

What a mess.

On the upside, God is in control. His timing determines everything that happens, and I really can't sweat the wait. Yes, it was aggravating (we were told it would take four weeks), but I've always felt that the hold-ups we've experienced (and there have been many) were all part of God's plan to place a child that He's predetermined as ours into our family.

The last thing we have to do is get all our documentation authenticated. This will mean trips to the court houses of two different counties. Lord willing, this will not be nearly as challenging and scary as I'm making it out to be in my mind. The problem is, I've got the worst sense of direction. I get lost going EVERYWHERE. A twenty minute trip to the courthouse in Annapolis could take me three or four or five hours. And the courthouse over the bay bridge? Please. That's a disaster waiting to happen. My kids and I could be stranded on the Eastern shore for months.

The good news is that things on the writing front are going well. PROTECTOR'S PROMISE will be mailed out Monday, and then I'll get back to work on COLD CASE MURDER. I've also got a proposal for book 3 in the Sinclair Brother's trilogy to work up, but I've got that story in my mind, so it shouldn't be too difficult.