There and Back Again, An Adoption Paperwork's Tale

This adoption process is like a hobbit's tale in that everything seems to go "there and back again."

First, you get every piece of paperwork together that documents your entire family's life. 
Birth certificates.
Marriage certificate.
Criminal Background checks.
Fingerprints.
Driver licenses.
Passports.
Extra passport pictures.
Family pictures - of you at home, of you doing your favorite things, etc.
ALL your financial statements - bank statements, IRAs, savings, investments, pension funds, etc.
ALL your insurance information - medical, life, home, car, etc.
Your tax documents from at least the last 2 years - 1040s, W2s, 1099s, etc.
Certificates for training courses you take

Then, you ask people to write reference letters for you, vouching that you are indeed good quality people who can most defnitely love another child and give them a wonderful family.

You go all the places necessary to get all those documents.
County health department
Bank
Walgreens (for passport pictures)
Police Station
Edward Jones
Filing cabinet
State capital
Friends' homes
Church

When everything is assembled,you take it all to your Homestudy Agency.
They look it over, and then take a couple weeks to write up your full homestudy "report."

You feel accomplished!
But then you look at the list of things you need for your dossier and take a step back.
You also take a deep breath, get MORE copies of all the homestudy documents mentioned above, plus a few others I am sure I am forgetting.

Next, you have all those documents notarized.
You go to all the places necessary to make that happen.

THEN, you take the notarized documents to the Secretary of State office in the state where they were notarized. Birth certificates and marriage licenses have to go to the state where they were issued, so that meant I made a trip to Topeka, Kansas for MY birth certificate and our marriage certificate.  For everything else, I ended up making several trips to the Missouri Secretary of State office in downtown Kanas City.  I WAS going to drive all the way to Jefferson City (2.5 hours one way) until a friend who has adopted let me know I could save myself some time and money and just go to the KC office (that I didn't know existed).  I promised her I would be sure to pass on this information to anyone else adopting in the future.  We learn from those who have gone before us and will turn around and do the same for those coming after us.

One of our documents, our letter of recommendation from our International Agency, came in the mail from WA.  So, I had to mail it BACK to Washington to the SOS office to have it get their fancy seal to prove it is verified.

Once ALL the documents have the fancy "SOS seal page" on them - which can be tricky because those SOS office people are PICKY when they review your documents.  If they pass their approval, they are given the SOS seal.  THEN, you can have all your notarized AND verified documents TRANSLATED.  For us, everything has to be translated to FRENCH.

When ALL that is ready, we send 11 documents from our dossier to the Department of State in Washington DC because apparently those 11 documents need even MORE verificaton, at $15 PER document.  Before they come back to us though, they will make a short stop at the Haitian Embasy to be verified just ONE MORE TIME (at $25 PER document, I might add).

FINALLY, when all the documents have been there and back again, we put ALL the documents together and send it off to Haiti.

Confused yet?! 
Don't worry,  your agency gives you lists and spreadsheets to help you stay organized.
AND even better, I am soooo very thankful for all the people we have met who have adopted and have given us tips and advice and ENCOURAGEMENT as we make this journey.  You can NOT do this alone.  And I promise that when YOU start your own adoption journey, I will be there to help guide and encourage you just as others have for us!

One More Thing

If this adoption journey is teaching me anything, it's that there is always ONE MORE THING to do.

I thought we were just about done with our dossier, but then I realized I need to send 11 documents to Washington DC to be verified by the Department of State.  THEN, those same 11 documents go to the Haitian Embassy to be verified one more time.  And of course, I pay a company to hand deliver those documents for me.  And obviously, I pay a fee PER DOCUMENT to be verified, twice.  I think we have the fees figured out, and then I find out about ONE MORE.

I easily start to get overwhelmed and stressed.
I panic and wonder HOW IN THE WORLD are we going to afford THAT, whatever that may be at the time.

Then, God reminds me HE has it ALL covered.
NOTHING takes Him by surprise.
He doesn't need a spreadsheet, to do list, budget, or anything else to keep Him on track.
He doesn't space out and forget something.
He doesn't overlook even the tiniest of details.
He has gone before us, knows the EXACT way we are going, and will guide us ONE step at a time.

Even though He hasn't made all those ins and outs known to me, YET, I am trusting Him.
What else can I do?

I just submitted 2 on-line grant applications and have several more mail-in applications on the counter, filling in line after line on the "Adoption Expenses" pages.

When we started this journey, our adoption finance coach told us most families are able to fundraise about $5,000.  A drop in the bucket compared to the $50,000 we will probably need when all is said and done!

The finance coach was also "super encouraging" when she let us know that many grant organizations don't give money to "bigger" families.  My heart dropped.

Lawrence is a teacher and doesn't make millions, those he's worth that and more! :)
As a stay-at-home mom who works several "side jobs," I don't bring in the big bucks either.  BUT I am confident this is where God has me for this stage of our lives and feel EXTREMELY blessed to be at home with the girls!!!  AND God has opened doors with childbirth students, doula clients, sign orders, etc and continues to provide for us every month.

When we said YES to adoption, we knew that this journey was totally of GOD.
HE alone would have to provide to make this happen.
We are completely and totally dependent on HIM.
Yet, that has required us to ask our family and friends and Facebook world to help us out.
It's humbling.
YET, such a blessing too.
Every day I am moved to tears as someone else messages me saying how our journey has encouraged them or helped them grow in their faith.  Every time we receive a donation - be it $1 or $1,000 - my heart is filled to overflowing.   I can't say THANK YOU enough to everyone who has supported us financially in some way.  And we also GREATLY appreciate every single prayer.  They are powerful and effective.  We have personally been praying for a friend's baby who is almost a month old now.  Little Daniel "shouldn't" have survived birth, let alone a month!  BUT here he is showing the world that GOD has bigger plans for him!  THAT boosts my faith.  And every time we sell another puzzle piece, the girls get so excited and immediately thank God for providing for us.  It's been amazing watching THEM grow through all of this!

As we continue this journey, there will always be ONE MORE THING.
Even after our boys are home...

For now, I fill out one more grant application, I send in one more piece of paperwork, I write one more check.
And God is right there WITH me, every single time.

These boys are HIS sons after all.
He is just going to loan them to us, as He has our 4 girls.
I'm am utterly confident God will take care of our boys and get them home to us in the perfect timing!  NOTHING can stop Him!!!  Not even mounds of paperwork!

*I decided to blog about the adoption so I had everything in ONE place, and could look back and read through the journey and see yet again how God had His fingerprints all over it.  When it's all said and done, I'll be able to understand, "that's why THAT happened THEN..."  Thanks for joining us on this journey.  It's an adventure for sure!*