Matchmaker Matchmaker

So, we are officially matched! Join me in a happy dance and a prayer of praise!
Now that we have rejoiced, you might be wondering what exactly that means. Well, like anything that has to do with relationships...it's complicated. But also wonderful. As well as terrifying. All in the best way.
I'll go ahead and get the bad news over with: I still can't show my new son and daughter's faces on this blog or on any social media platform. If I see you in person, I can show you every picture I have of them, all of which are adorable. But I can't share actual faces digitally until we sign papers in front of a judge in Colombia. So, for that, we all have to wait a while.
Below is a brief summary of what happens next. Some of this happens at the same time, and some of these steps are sequential.

• The caretakers at S and A's orphanage will tell them they have a family. This concept will be completely new and foreign (pun!) to them. The orphanage will spend several weeks preparing them to leave the city, the life, and all of the people they know in exchange for a family and a home. I hear the gospel echo through our journey as I type this. We feel waves of joy and gratitude as we adopt our kids. But no amount of celebration can erase the fact that they will have to give up EVERYTHING they have ever known; they will have to acknowledge and face the truth that they were abandoned and unwanted by those who should have treasured them. We long for them; we love them. But their story is woven with tragedy because that is where every adoption begins. Though we praise God for His mercy each morning and celebrate our promised heavenly inheritance, it could not be claimed without the great and terrible sacrifice of a loving Savior humbling himself to death so that he could cover our sins and reunite us with God the Father. He gave up his glory and his constant communion with his trinity family to reach us, the ones who destroyed and abandoned His love. We are not - by any means measurable - saviors or rescuers. Through adoption, we are birds-eye witnesses and constantly reminded of how far God would and did go to bring his children - all of them - home.
• Chad and I apply for visas, which will require a trip to Atlanta. We will fill out immigration paperwork and pay a translator to convert files to English. US Immigration needs to review the MANY pages of files about our kids, many of which are medical in nature and have to be professionally translated. For these kinds of things, we are at the timing mercies of government employees. Estimated wait time is about a month once we turn in our next USCIS application.
• We get to send pictures of our family and a small gift to S and A. Everything they have is communal, so we get to send them possessions of their own. Squee! They will be given this package when they are told about us.
• We book and plan travel to Colombia for us and Eirinn and Brent. Although some elements are out of our control, our adoption agency is well-versed in this part of the process. They have told us to plan for a November departure date. We will probably fly to South America in the beginning of November and be there until the end of the month. You can start praying for and sending letters of consolation to my mother. This year we were supposed be in Knoxville with my side of the family for Thanksgiving. Looks like we will be eating turkey empanadas instead of sweet potato casserole. 
• I indulge the nervous pit in my stomach. But it's not there for the reasons you might think. Traveling to other countries has never made me nervous. I'm pretty comfortable with my Spanish. I'm so excited to meet my kids in person that I can't even fathom bonding issues (although I know it's a challenge sometimes). My tummy-pit comes from a ridiculous, faith-lacking, fret-filled place. 

REAL TALK: I've been a busy, busy adopting bee since about February. I've put together various fundraisers, completed mountains of paperwork, worked markets and fairs - all necessary work to bring the kids home. Our community - YOU - have come alongside us in tremendous ways that we never expected and could NEVER thank you for. And God blessed those efforts tremendously. In looking at our (read: Chad's) adoption spreadsheet today, we discovered that by the end of September - after our Worldcrafts and Home Market fundraisers - we should have enough money to cover our last fee payment. What amazing, wonderful news! Not to mention the blessing of our new-to-us 7 passenger car and the swift approval of our documents by all agencies. It's blessing after blessing up in here.
Yet, all along, in the back of my sinful, human mind, I had a plaguing fear. I have managed to shove it deep down into the dark until now because I was too busy doing the next thing. But now that there are only a few next-things to do, the panic is emerging.
Two months without a paycheck. Two more kids, a family of six, needs that I can't even fully anticipate, and two paychecks worth of money will not come in during our first two months as a family of six. This is terrifying to me. I have often told Chad that I wasn't worried about what we would do if we lost our house or he lost his job because God will not abandon his children. And suddenly I find myself tight-necked and heartburned thinking about that coming drought of income.
And before you indulge my worrying with comforting words, please know this is pure sin on my part. This is the useless worrying that Jesus warns against in Matthew.
We have friends and family who have already asked to help specifically with money during this time.
We have savings and credit cards and people providing meals. There is no reason to worry. AND YET I WORRY. A The devil has found a foothold, and he is climbing.
The next time you wonder if there is something you can do to help us close out this chapter of our adoption storybook, here's what you can do: pray. Pray for our kids - all four of them - as they get ready for their worlds to change. And pray for my faith, for my trust in a gentle God who loves to give good gifts to his children, though they doubt and disobey Him. Pray for our patience as we wait for His provision in all ways. Pray for those who will give sacrificially, that they would be immeasurably blessed for their giving. Pray that I will treasure my children who are already with me as I move to bring the others home.

Thanks and hugs,
Christa