Have Photos, Heart Lost

What a week. I learned on Tuesday a.m. through e-mail that one of the last pieces of paperwork that we've been tracking still hadn't been processed through the KC immigration office. Without it, we couldn't go to China. I kicked into high gear and spent the next two days taking care of it. The good news is my job is really flexible, bad news is when I don't work, I don't get paid! Long story short, I contacted both congressman and senators to try to solicit their help the first day per the recommendation of my adoption agency, but was able to secure the document the next day by getting an 8:00 a.m. appt. at the immigration office and refusing to leave until it was done. I was fortunate to get that appt., there are a limited number and you have to get appts. online - the first day I was turned away. Uggh. My agency ended up really abdicating from being helpful at all, that was the hardest part. We'd been tracking the document for over six weeks and I continuously followed up, but was told "to be patient" until this week when it was clear it was going to put the trip in jeapordy. There were many steps the agency could have taken and didn't. So I was a mixture of infuriated, scared to death, fed up with bureacracy and paperwork, etc. I want to sincerely thank all my friends in KC who totally rallied to help me stay focused. Several of you, completely independently, kept repeating "I know this is going to work out, I just know it." That helped. This is one example of many, many hurdles that have been in the path on the way to this adoption. This is what I mean when I say my faith has grown from this. Many times is looked like it could or would fall through, or that I'd be waiting 5 years or longer (I do not exaggerate). And here we are.

As it stands, I can now enter China, but until I find that this document has been received and processed by the National Visa Center, then cabled to Guangzhou, China, we won't be able to leave China. However, my appt. is not until September 17th at the Consulate in Guangzhou so the chances look good. I still have to do bizarre things like call incessantly late at night to try to get through to the NVC to check up on the document. During the day it is next to impossible and families tell me they have literally been disconnected over and over due to volume of calls.

I kept thinking this week about a comment that one of my clients, an adoptive mom of three, made recently. After parents receive the photo of their child, a fierce attachment sets in. She characterized it this way: "have photos, heart lost." It was this "mama bear" quality that got me through the week, along with the confidence and support of friends and family. Do not underestimate your influence in this process, whether it is through a good thought, prayer, or positive energy! We aren't out of the woods yet, but we're moving!