Never a Dull Moment

There is seriously never a dull moment in this adoption process...especially in regards to the obstacles that can be thrown in our path without warning.  As if the Haitian government hasn't provided us with enough problems and red tape in this process, now the U.S. government wants to get in on the action.

I didn't realize until yesterday that this potential government shutdown that is looming next week would have a direct impact on the last step of our adoption process...the approval of the U.S. Visa.  We are not at that point yet, but we hope to be soon, and we know many other families who are just ahead of us in the process, who could be there in the next week or two.

We are still waiting for passport approval.  After Chelley and Naika's passports are approved, they will be submitted for printing.  Once the Haitian passports are printed, the LAST step is the approval of the Visa from the U.S. government...this includes approval of our I600 application to classify an orphan as a close relative, and also involves a Visa appt. at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince that our girls will need to attend.  As soon as that Visa appt is completed, we could be traveling within 7 days to go and get our girls and bring them home!! 

If Congress cannot reach an agreement and the U.S. government does indeed shut down, all visa applications from foreigners go on hold until the shutdown is resolved.  As you can imagine, this is NOT good news for the families waiting on those Visas for their loved ones!
Another adoptive family found this information regarding the government shutdown in 1995...

"During the shutdown, around 20,000 to 30,000 applications from foreigners for visas went unprocessed each day. The State Department also had to let some 200,000 applications from Americans for visas gather dust."

 If this shutdown does occur, that will lead to a large backlog in this area...and backlogs have already been abundant in this process.  It's so discouraging for many of us to consider delayed homecomings for our children due to this shutdown and the backlog that it would most likely create.  One of my adoptive friends has her son's Visa appt scheduled for next week, Oct 3rd, and was hoping/planning to travel the following week to finally bring him home.  If the shutdown takes place next week, his appt will be postponed indefinitely, which means his homecoming is delayed as well.  This is so hard at the end of this loooooong process, when you are so close to being reunited with your child.  And this scenario could be repeated time and again over the next weeks or months, depending on how long the shutdown would continue and how overwhelming the backlog is.

 I've tried to read the news reports and make sense of whether or not this will happen, but my mind starts to swim as I try to predict the outcome.  So, I've quit reading the reports and am choosing to focus on the fact that God is not at all surprised or distressed by this development, and He is sovereign over ALL the nations and rulers of this world.  Isaiah 40:21-29 pretty much puts the whole situation into perspective...

 
Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³ He brings princes to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
²⁴ No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

²⁵ “To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.

²⁷ Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.

So, would you please join us in lifting up this situation before our everlasting God that calls forth the stars by name?  We know He has not forgotten these children or their forever families.  We know that our cause is not disregarded by our God.  Please pray as the Spirit of God leads you to pray.  May He use this situation to accomplish His purposes and to display His glory!  Thank you for standing with us in prayer as we fight one more obstacle to bringing our girls home.