Turbulence

Have you ever embarked on a journey that didn't have some bumps on the road? Well life, as we travel down the adoption road, has gotten very eventful - and that's a mild way of putting it. When you take a life altering event like adoption and throw in a bunch of other stuff that seems to happen all at once, life is no longer boring. And believe me, we could use a little boredom right now. But let me start with the latest adoption update: we had meetings yesterday with a couple of professionals who work with Jessica, which were quite productive. We gained some more insight into the life of this remarkable little girl and we learned a few strategies on how to help Jessica deal with her stuff. We also learned that her mom & step-dad have given up any legal right to access, with the exception of a couple of letters sent through the adoption registry. The adoption registry is like a post office where you send letters to the birth family, and they to you. The letters are vetted so that any identifying information (mainly one's whereabouts) are kept private. So basically this means that aside from birthday and Christmas cards there will be no contact with her birth family, which considering Jessica's history is best for her. But once she's 18 she can search them out if that's her choice.

Ok, so what else has been going on with us lately? Lots of stuff! The mayhem started over a month ago when we had to put one of our cats to sleep, which was just before we started the process of having Jessica placed with us. It's never easy for a pet owner to make that decision, but Spiffy was old and really sick and we didn't want him to suffer anymore. We will miss our old man kitty cat... Then of course there was the thing with my heart. Now since that time I've had another test, where I wore a heart monitor for 24 hours last week. The thought that I was developing a heart problem, just as we were about to start a family, could not have come at a worse time. It could have potentially derailed the whole process as Children's Services will not place anyone with a parent with a serious medical condition. But it's looking like everything's fine now, as I learned that my echo-cardiogram came back ok (and no, I'm not pregnant either). As well if I didn't hear anything this week about the heart monitor results then it means that no news is good news. However, as a precaution my family doctor says I can't have any caffeine anymore. That was a blow let me tell you! No more coffee? Coke? It's the end of the world as I know it. You may as well put a gun to my head & pull the trigger! Well ok, it's not that bad, but I'll keep that in mind as I cut down on my double-doubles as Tim Horton's.

Then a few weeks ago we received a letter from our condo board, stating that they want Angel's honorarium, which she was paid for service on last year's board, returned. We suspect this has more to do with the bad blood between the people on this year's board and the board Angel served on, as the by-laws they are using to justify this action are pretty vague. So for now we're getting some legal advice and, if we are in the wrong, will have to pay back the $325 Angel received 10 months ago. Add that to the car repair bill we recently paid, plus a big vet bill for our other cat, who had to go to the animal hospital last weekend because he had a blockage, and it amount to a sizable chunk of change. In spite of our financial situation we're still going to Jasper next weekend; we considered canceling our trip but in the end felt it was important to go as they recommend it as part of the adoption process. But wait, it gets better! Angel, who has been slated for surgery, got a call yesterday saying that she was supposed to come into the hospital for the procedure next week! Needless to say this was not acceptable, as it involves a 6 week recovery for her that we were expecting would happen while she was on parental leave. Thankfully they were able to reschedule it for some time after December, after Angel phoned the hospital back and explained our situation.

Another big event that takes place today is that we are saying goodbye to someone who is close to us, who is going away and won't be back until the spring. I'm not at liberty to say who he is or where he's going for reasons of safety and privacy. But suffice to say he will be missed, and we will be praying for him and looking forward to his return. So in a nutshell we are, as Angel like to put it, experiencing turbulence. As someone said when we told our story to our our mid-week home group, we don't know how to do anything quietly these days. But we know that we aren't alone as we face these challenges. We are so blessed by the people who support us; our family, our friends, our church, and even all you blog and facebook creepers out there who read this stuff. Even though we face a lot of different losses we also look forward to what we will gain. This morning as I was spending time in prayer and the Word I had a sense that God was restoring the wasted years, the "years that the locusts had eaten" (Joel 2:24-26). This applied not only to us adopting an older child, but also to Jessica, who for years has never known what it's like to live in a stable home.

In spite of all the circumstances and the ever changing emotions we experience (excitement, fear, anticipation, depression and joy) we are pushing forward. We may be tested and even attacked by the evil one, but we know that God is greater than all these things. I can't wait to look back on all this and see how God has brought us through it all.

And I can't wait to meet Jessica.