Mistake or God Thing?

Well, I got a call on Friday from our mortgage company that controls our home equity line of credit (the way we are paying for our adoption costs at this point). They said that our card had been declined when the State Police used it to pay for our Criminal Records check. Anyway, after several lengthy phone calls with the company we found out that I had made a typo on the expiration date when I filled out the form, and the problem was not that the card had to be swiped, instead of keyed in (as the first lady that I spoke with told me). We then found out that there are lots of limitations on our card which will make it virtually useless for our adoption expenses. So Friday night, we spent about an hour and a half at the bank applying to have both our first mortgage and our home equity loan moved from our mortgage company to our bank. We will hopefully close on those this Friday.

So I really wonder, was it just a typo? Or did God specifically orchestrate that typo so that we would discover the problems with our home equity line of credit before it was too late (ie. we are in Russia trying to use the card to pay for something and can't)? I believe the latter is the case. Thank you God, for this mistake that you knew all along would be a blessing.

On a separate note, I really have concerns about the inner workings of the State Police Criminal Records Division. When I called them to inquire about the status of our paperwork since the card that we were using to pay for it was declined, they told me that they have so much paperwork come in that they simply cannot keep track of everyone that comes across their desk and that they do not keep a record of what they have received and returned. They said I'd just have to wait and see if it is returned to me. These are our tax dollars at work.

Russian word of the day: muh-lah-DYEHTS! "well-done/good job/atta-boy/atta-girl"

Rumor Confirmed

I got an email from our family coordinator this afternoon confirming that reaccreditation would probably not be completed until February of next year. However, she said that they are fairly certain that their accreditation would be valid through May of 2008, not next year in May. So hopefully this is the last delay we will experience due to the reaccreditation process.
She also had very good news. She said that they expect that referrals will not be slow in coming because there would be fewer accreditated agencies working in Russia, so there would be more children readily available. So I am very hopeful that once the reaccreditation is finished we will get a referral relatively quickly. There are lots of other families waiting for referrals, but since we are all interested in different ages and genders of children hopefully the wait for our little girl will come to an end in the next few months. It's pretty awesome to think that this is probably our last Thanksgiving and Christmas with just the two of us!

Russian word of the day: EH-tuh nyee-i-GROOSH-kuh "that's not a toy" (I like this one, might come in handy if she's closer to 2 years old when we meet her)

Law passed in Russia

Hi everyone. I got word last week that Russia passed a law to clarify what documents are needed for agencies to be reaccredited. Unfortunately, they have not acted on the law that would have allowed multi-year accreditations. A friend said that she heard from her coordinator that reaccreditation may not be completed until February.
On a happier note, November is National Adoption Month! Please keep all adoptive families in your prayers this month and if you've ever thought about adopting, then definitely attend a seminar to find out what it's all about. Although the waiting is difficult, so far this has been one of the most exciting and fulfilling things we've begun.
Please also continue to pray that God would provide financially for our adoption, especially when it comes time to travel (two trips to Russia can be outrageously expensive).

Russian Word of the Day: ya ne poni' mayu "I don't understand" (I think this one might come in handy!)

Happy Wednesday!

I mailed our papers for our new criminal records check today. Hopefully it'll come in the next three or four weeks, then we can send it off to the Secretary of State for the apostille. Luckily our next piece of paperwork doesn't expire until March. So we shouldn't have anything else to redo anytime soon.

Sometimes I wonder if our daughter will look like us. A lot of adoptive parents end up with children that look like them even though there's no biological relationship. Our friends' daughter couldn't look more like them. I also wonder what her name will be. I think we want to keep her name if it's not too complicated. I hope someone is cuddling her while we wait for her, and that she's being well cared for. Hopefully the wait will not be too long.

Russian word of the day:
'dobroye 'ootro = good morning