Dossier taking the scenic view

Ok, so it's not in the middle of the desert, but it has been on quite the journey since it has left Virginia.  It went to Indianapolis to take in a race, back to Tennessee to do a bit of hiking and take in a few mountain views, then it made its way over the ocean to France to get a bit more cultured and now it is resting in London before it makes its final leg of the journey to Rwanda.  In the mean time, while our little packet of documents has been sight seeing we have been busy taking in Spring!!!  Grayson has learned how to ride his bike without training wheels, Randy has finished his portfolio for his class, and I have just today finished my final paper for my final class and am seriously looking forward to my hooding ceremony in a couple of weeks.  Randy to will be graduating and finishing up his thesis over the summer.  YEAH!!  Keep our next steps lifted friends.  Until our dossier lands, we will be seeking refuge in His word. 

Today

Today

We found out today that our dossier has begun its final leg of the journey. The bundle has been mailed to Rwanda. It is expected to land in Kigali in a little over a week. How very excited we are. It feels so surreal. Randy was funny, "So what's the next thing that we need to fill out?" Oh...

I have gotten pretty good at waiting for things. Here are a few things that I have waited for this week...

Grayson to finish wiping so that I could do a double check.
The gentleman to turn in his thirty five lottery tickets so that I could pay for my gas.
The women on the other end of the line to stop talking so that I could transfer her to someone who could answer her question.
My toast to brown in the toaster.
Grayson's raincoat to arrive from the store.
The computer to finish loading a file.
The sun to shine.
The teapot to boil.
Grayson to listen to my words.
Randy to see my side of the story.
My second to last class to be dismissed.
My final paper to begin writing itself...probably not going to happen.
Randy's thesis to be finished...hopefully going to happen.

Through all of it, God has been on the move, one step ahead of me, all the while holding onto me at the same time. It is so nice to be in His grip, especially during those moments where there is time to reflect...those moments filled with waiting. Please join our family as we wait to hear about our little one, the baby in Rwanda as Gray calls her. It will be a little while,several months in fact, but luckily we get to wait together.

Dossier has landed in Virginia

So, last weekend we shared that we had done some running around and that Saturday, I sorted through the several copies that we had made and carefully created four piles of identical paperwork.



Here, you can see one of the piles all laid out.

We then made a pilgrimage to the local post office. I was being semi ridiculous as Randy wanted to walk, but I wanted to drive, because I just didn't want anything to happen to all of these papers. He convinced me to walk and here we are holding and packaging the "baby" upon arrival.







Eventually after several goodbyes, we mailed our dossier to Virginia. I followed that little package online for three days and mid week, we received an email from our family coordinator stating that the package had arrived. Praise the Lord!!!! Our dossier will now be reviewed by two folks within the agency and then it will be reviewed by the United States Embassy and then the Rwandan Embassy in Washington DC. After that, it will fly to Rwanda and I will track it's progress on the Internet once again. We are feeling so incredibly blessed as the adoption has been fully funded so far because of help from the Lord, family, and friends. We are so appreciative of your prayers and funding.

The next few months will be filled with so much activity so the wait shouldn't be to excruciating. We both graduate at the beginning of May. Randy will continue to craft his thesis on puppies...ok, so it's not on puppies, but I know he wishes that it was. About mid May we will be hosting a dessert reception fundraiser at our church. I still don't have the details of this event laid out, but I am really excited that our pastor has granted us access to the church for an evening and that we have already had quite a few friends step up to the plate to help with this event. I have begun to construct a letter for local businesses with the hope of securing a few donated items for a raffle. We hope to share our story through song and narration with all those that attend.

Randy is also applying for a few teaching positions this month throughout New England...mostly Vermont so far and I have found a few in New Hampshire that might be greeted with his resume within the next couple of weeks...so we'll just wait and see. I believe that is all for now. I must continue to read for my class on Monday. Only four more class sessions to endure and then I will be done and officially on break from academia for a while. Hope this finds you all well and thanks for reading. It is so nice to share with you all. Have a blustery spring day.

To Augusta and beyond

So we went on a journey south yesterday to the city of Augusta. It is a land that flows with Panera and state buildings. It was a beautiful day for a drive and even a better one for getting our dossier documents certified. We dropped them off at the Secretary of State's office and wandered around for about 20 minutes while they were stamped.

We saw the Maine seal.


We saw the rooms where the Maine House of Representatives and the Senate battle it out.


We saw the inside of the capital dome which I thought was quite beautiful.

After that we headed back to the Secretary of States Office and found our documents sealed. Of course it wouldn't be a true experience without drama. I expected to pay $10 per notarized document and I thought we had 19 in total, so when the secretary behind the double glass windows said that is would be $310, my heart sank. Surely, I am not that bad at math, but I submitted the payment any how. I then sat down and began to look through the prized documents to see where I had gone wrong. AHA...I brought five copies of each of the police reports, for a total of 12 notary signatures that did not need to be certified, but rather kept for the additional copies of our home study that were provided for grant applications. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know about you, but I always get red in the face when I have done something foolish, so thank goodness Randy was there. He gently shared the news with the lady behind the glass and if you can believe this, we received a refund for $120.00 instantly. Praise the Lord for grace. So we broke bread a Panera and traveled back north to make our 222 photo copies. I will share the tale of sending the dossier on in my next post. For now, I leave you with a thankful heart and a restful spirit.

Spring in Maine

So we're all pretty excited here! Not only is is Spring in Maine, but we received out I-171H form. Funny little form this is. It is a document that is generated from the Department of Homeland Security that you receive after you file your I-600A. Before you receive this document, you receive a receipt, which is posted on beautiful paper, then you receive your fingerprint appointment, which is also on beautiful paper, and then a few weeks after your fingerprinting, you receive the I-171H...a plain looking piece of paper. It exhibits the look of a tax document and I had to look it over a couple of times to verify that it was in fact the document that we had been waiting for. Down on the bottom right hand corner, in smaller than average print, it is posted for the near sighted individual with a hawk like sense of sight, I-171H.

So now what...well a funny little thing happened. I am pretty sure that the wrong expiration date has been posted on this here form and we are currently waiting to hear back from our local office. By the way, trying to get a hold of someone in the Department of Homeland Security is a complicated matter in and of itself. The automated system is circular, but after about fifteen minutes of pushing various numerals on my phone, I finally discovered the correct combination and was put through to a real person who then instructed me to email my local office...not call, because they don't have phone lines that go into the place, only secret lines that dial out. So, the email is in and I have been notified that in three short business days, they will be in touch. What's three days...after all, it was on the third day that Christ rose again and that, my friends, was totally worth the wait.

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Relaxing in my Maker's grip.

Rain in Maine

Just a quick check in, they seem like they are all quick lately. We are being rained on in Maine. It is lovely weather. Grayson prayed to Jesus this morning asking for the rain to go away so that he could play outside. Someone else must have needed the rain because it is still misting.

We had a wonderful weekend. Last Thursday we headed to Portland for the fingerprinting. It was a wonderful experience. I think I was expecting cranky state workers, but then we were pleasantly surprised with how kind everyone was. The officer that wands you down came down eye to eye with Gray and shook his hand and was just so sweet. It was these people that helped make this visit such a nice one. The fingerprinting itself was fast and then we were off to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, mid 40's, and we were able to spend quality time together as a family. We went hiking, climbing, and grocery shopping at the Whole Foods.

We went for our second physical appointment today. We had originally had our physicals in August because they were needed for the home study. Well, the only downside to that was that this document needs to be less than three months of age by the time it heads to Rwanda. So, today was the update day and all went smoothly at the office. Again, pleasant people were abounding.

So now what...well more prayer for sure. We are excited that this leg of the journey is nearly fully funded and feel so blessed as God has provided for each step so generously and graciously. We still have the hope that our paperwork will be complete in the near future...sometime between March and April is the goal. We continue to trudge through this semester, the final semester of our graduate work, and will soon proudly display our diplomas. Randy is looking for secondary math teaching positions in the northeast, with the main focus being in Vermont. So if you know anybody, please let us know.

We'll keep you posted as things progress.

Fingers to be dipped in ink!

Another step to happen very soon. We will be heading to Portland in a little under two weeks to dip our fingers into ink. It will be nice to have an extra long weekend with amenities. I can already taste my cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera. I know this was short and I promise to give a life update later, but we are heading out on a winter bottle walk. Speak soon.