The Sun is Always Shining Somewhere

It’s a drizzly grey day here, the day before spring starts.  The clouds have rolled through each hour, with only a peek of a blue sky between blankets of rain.   Yet, I’m reminded in that glimpse that it is not dreary everywhere.  Beyond the clouds, the sun beams at creation, and the hope of new blooms come with each raindrop.  The sun is always shining, we just cannot always see it. 

In waiting, it’s easy to forget what is just beyond the grey.  Ironically, today, we have beautiful sunny news!  This morning, we received the last of our dossier documents (in this batch), authenticated through the consulates in Chicago and New York.  So, out of thirteen official documents we need to go to China, I just Fed-Exed eleven to our adoption agency, along with photos and copies of passports and a couple of really big checks.   They will begin a thorough review of our dossier, but it can’t be completed until they receive our last two documents.

It would seem like we should be close now, but in reality, we are still a few months away.  The next thing we need is our official copy of our homestudy report (STILL waiting on that one).  That copy will go back out to USCIS for approval with our I800a.  USCIS approval is running about 35-40 days from receipt right now, which is phenomenal if it stays that fast!  Once we get that approval, we can send our homestudy and our approval through the same Notary-County Clerk-Secretary of State-Chinese Consulate chain everything else just went through.  If everything goes smoothly, we should be logged in (LID) by the end of June.  (Yes, it could be earlier, but I’m not even going to allow myself to think that’s a possibility.)

Here’s what I’m finding beautiful right now…

Our stack of documents, copies, and photos!