"For Nothing Is Impossible With God" (Luke 1:37)

Waiting is the longest, hardest, and biggest part of the international adoption process.  Sure, there is a lot of paperwork to be filled out during various phases of the process which can keep us busy for awhile, but most of the time is spent waiting.  Waiting to hear back from our case worker, our adoption agency, or the orphanage, but most often waiting on something from a governmental agency.  We are in one of the waiting phases right now. 

We need to send our dossier (a collection of supporting documents) to the orphanage in Colombia.  They have been patiently waiting for us to send this to them ever since we were approved by them to adopt Maria.  I was able to gather all of the necessary documents within two weeks except for our I800a approval (the approval from USCIS (immigration) that states that we are allowed to adopt a child from a foreign country) which we are still waiting for, and our FBI clearances (criminal background checks).  According to the FBI's website, it takes 3-4 weeks for them to process our fingerprints and send us the results.  Last Thursday marked four weeks. 


Kevin called the FBI yesterday, and we were given the disappointing news that our clearances are going to take another four weeks at least!  He asked if there was anything we could do to expedite the process, and the woman said there is not.  But then she told him that if we provided them with a Fed Ex number, they could overnight the results to us instead of putting them in the regular mail which would take 3-5 days to get to us.  So, he hung up the phone and immediately got a Fed Ex number through the Postal Annex that we use.  The woman at the FBI told him to email the number to them.  So that's what he did.  That's all we could do.  And so the waiting continues. 

We were so disappointed, especially when she first told us this.  I emailed our case worker the news, and she wrote back to me right away saying that we could send in the rest of our dossier to her, minus the FBI clearances and the immigration approval, and she would send it on to Colombia to be translated while we wait for these other documents.  So that's what we're going to do.  Even though we are very disappointed, I don't feel anxious or overwhelmed by this news.  (Which is very unlike me!)  I think it's because I know that God is orchestrating all of this, and we trust Him completely. 

I was in the car in the afternoon, running errands before picking Carlos up from school, and this song by Addison Road came on the radio.  The song is called "Hope Now," and I instantly thought of some friends of ours who are also waiting.  They are waiting for their final immigration approval so that they can travel to Colombia to adopt their two daughters.   (This is the family I mentioned in my previous post.)  These are the lyrics that brought our friends to my mind:

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

These words also gave me comfort.  All we can do is cling to our faith in God's perfect plan and timing, and trust that we will be united with our daughters when it's supposed to happen.
 
So now the part where the title of this posting comes into play:
 
When Kevin emailed the FBI our Fed Ex number yesterday, he explained our case to them again.  Well, Kevin got an email back from Gary at the FBI today:  "Good news, I have tracked down your four requests and am pleased to report that they should be finalized by tomorrow. Estimated shipping late Wednesday or early Thursday.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me."  What?!  That's amazing!  Nothing is impossible with Him!   Thank you, God!

This is just another example of how God is letting us see how big He is!  I would love to share other examples, but as it's getting late now and I'm still up with an ill little boy, it'll have to wait for another day!