It's Been A Long While

Well, Lindsey and I have had quite the busy few weeks, both in and out of our adoption process. We've had a few blessings and a few setbacks in the process, but everything looks like it's going to be on track.

First off, Russia released a blacklist, so to speak, of home study agencies which they are no longer accepting applications from. Naturally, due to our luck, the one we were going to go with was of course on this list. We prayed about it some more, thanked God that we hadn't actually made any financial commitments to the agency, made some more calls, and found another agency that Russia will accept. Their fees are about $300 more than the agency we originally were going with, but they are able to get the entire home study completed in 2-4 weeks after receiving our initial payment and application.

Another setback is that I am not receiving the student loan refund check I was originally expecting after all. With everything that was going on in this semester, I had to drop one of my courses, taking me out of eligibility for aid by going below a half-time status. Right now, we're not sure what to do to make up for that money we were expecting, but we're confident God will come through for us. We still have grants we can apply for, and have also had donations sent to us, including some from a most unexpected source.

So, where are we now? We're waiting on a couple of things. The home study packet and the dossier. The requirements for that were recently changed as well, so we've been waiting on our adoption agency to get the required documents to us. I also still have to go get my passport.

Keep praying for us, it's a long road that seems like it will never end.