Sunday, January 27, 2013

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I woke up 36.  Doesn't feel any different than when I went to bed last night at 35!


Everyone of these ladies is one of my neighbors.  They are so special to me!  We live in a great neighborhood, but one of the things that makes it so great is the friendships we have built.  We have so much fun!  Our kids are all friends.  The older kids look out for the younger ones - they all love (and sometimes hate) each other.  All of our friends are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little girl.  Two of the ladies pictured above have girls close in age to Imani - that means instant best friends! 

Today is a sort of sad day - it was the day that I had worked in my mind that we would arrive in Africa to pick Imani up.  How sweet would that have been to have her "gotcha day" be the same day as my birthday? 

We are making progress though.  The "unofficial" progress is that our facilitator has the last document and has applied for her passport - BUT we have not seen this document, nor do we have a date as to when the passport was applied for.  That information is crucial in determining our next step.  We still have to decide

1. File i600 in the States while we wait for her passport, then schedule embassy appointments once we have approval and passport, then fly over together when visa is issued

OR

2. Have Rob fly over to DRC and file i600 in Congo and attend Embassy appointment all at the same time and then I would fly over 2 weeks later

At this point, we just want to get to HER!  We worked out the budget and it will cost almost exactly the same to make two trips, so cost is not an issue.  We feel very strongly that both of us need to experience Congo for Imani's sake later on.  We both want to have had the experience of having been there so we know.  Hopefully, the decision will be made in the next couple of days.

A couple of weeks ago I posted something on my facebook page about taking a leap of faith.  I'm finally ready to share what that was!

I have decided not to return to my position as Office Manager at the medical practice where I currently work.  God has made it abundantly clear to me that I need to be home - not just for Imani, but also for our family life in general.  One of our sons is having some major troubles with school and then adding Imani to our family, the overwhelming stress I've been under the last couple of months (in addition to the adoption stress) and my general change in life perspective over the last year has combined to make for a pretty clear cut decision.

This is the biggest leap of faith I've ever taken because it has to do with my money!  I don't know how things are going to work out, but I know that no amount of money is worth the stress and the havoc my family has been enduring.  I'm comfortable with the decision, although, definitely a little scared because I have no control right now, but mostly, I'm excited.  Excited that I will be able to give my family what it needs - my presence.  My presence is so much more important than any of the "things" that my paycheck buys for them.  At the end of my life, I will not be counting the "things" I bought, but my family and friends that I did life with.

I'm ready for the next chapter to begin.....the one that has a little girl in it and the one where I am less stressed out! LOL

Oh, and this is another reason I love my neighborhood - this was done by ADULTS and not by teenagers!  And no, this is not my house!


1 comment:

  1. Waiting... and Decisions... and decisions and waiting... Tough stuff. I really liked Rob's thoughts on expectations and leaving them behind...

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