Thankful Thursday and the long awaited update

I know... we are so behind in posting. It has been a whirlwind week! Last Wednesday, we received an email from our agency letting us know that the Ukraine will be temporarily closing for adoption processing beginning June 12. This is to make the transition from the SDA handing adoptions to the Ministry of Social Affairs assuming responsibility for this. It is unknown how long the shutdown will last. Our little guy turns 4 shortly before the shutdown.  If we are not close to travelling, we have two reasons for concern. First, there is the risk that he could be transferred to an institution - making his adoption more difficult. Second, there is the risk that he could be taken into foster care - making it impossible to adopt him - yes, truly impossible. We were asked if we still wanted to proceed and if there was any chance that we could have our dossier ready to go this week. As soon as I managed to catch my breath, I immediately responded that of course we wanted to proceed and that we would do everything in our power to get our dossier ready.
That started a whole lot of busy-ness! Fortunately, Mark had already completed his physical. Mine was scheduled for May 17 so I contacted my doctor who was kind enough to see me the next day. Our home study update visit was already scheduled for this Monday so I emailed our agency to let them know that our situation had become even more urgent. Immediately started gathering the necessary dossier documents. God knew what He was doing when Mark lost his job because we would not have been able to accomplish all of this if we were both working - it just would not have been possible.
Anway... so then Friday, I had to put my sweet kitty to sleep. That was a hard end to the week. She's been with me since she was a baby.
Betsy, Tim, Gavin, and John arrived Friday evening so we had a house full of company. Saturday, the guys went to ATV training for Gavin and John. Maia and I had a pretty quiet day. Saturday evening, we went to an adoption fundraiser for a couple who is adopting their son from Ukraine.
Sunday was Maia's baptism. We decided to have a private ceremony following our church service since she is a little older. It really was a beautiful event! I'll try to post pictures soon. About 20 friends/family attended and we had a nice lunch at one of the local restaurants. Then, some people came back to our place to visit for a while.
Monday, back to work and then our home study visit in the afternoon. That went well. On Tuesday, Mark and I headed to the cities to get our police clearance letters done. One more item to cross off our dossier list. Work yesterday and today, along with multiple revisions of my employment and medical clearance letters. I will be picking up the last piece of paper tomorrow morning.
And now, we wait for our home study. Unfortunately, it is not going to be on it's way to Ukraine this week. Mark talked with the agency (different than our adoption agency) and it will be early next week before it is ready. I'm frustrated. It is out of my control, but I feel like we are somehow failing our little guy. I want to get on that plane now! I have to remind myself that none of this is a surprise to God. He knows the outcome and getting myself all upset is not going to help matters. I think I probably need to go back and read some of my posts from Maia's adoption. Ahhh... the roller coaster ride.

There is still much to be thankful for.
- If all goes well, we may have Matthew home within a couple of months. Please pray that our dossier will be submitted in time for us to travel to bring him home before the government shut-down.
- Our church family is going to host an adoption fundraiser dinner and silent auction for us! This support is such an encouragement to us as we step out in faith that God will provide the means to bring Matthew home. Several friends have already committed items for our silent auction and I am so thankful for them!
- My doctor who was willing to squeeze me into his busy schedule at a moment's notice and repeat the paperwork several times to ensure it is exactly the way it needs to be for our dossier.
- My supervisor who did not give me any grief when I told her that I would probably be needing this second parental leave within 6 months of the first. Our staffing right now is VERY tight and my co-workers have to cover for me in addition to doing their own work while I am away. When I told them, everyone was encouraging.
- About A Child and our facilitator Olga who are doing everything in their power to "make it happen."
- Our Family Sponsorship Page which is up and running on Reece's Rainbow. It means a great deal that Andrea, Shelly, Michelle, and the rest of the team allowed us this opportunity.
- And thank you to everyone who has donated to our FSP.
- Oh... I almost forgot a HUGE thing to be thankful for. Last month, I posted about an adoption grant that we were able to apply for even though the deadline was officially past. On Friday evening, we received a call that we have been chosen as one of the Bella Adoption Grant recipients!!! They will be allocating $1500 towards Matthew's adoption fees! Thank you to Becky for telling us about the grant and thank you to Kris at Bella Adoption!!
- Maia and Mark are at the top of my list, too!
- And most importantly, Easter is almost here and I am thankful for the promise of eternal life that comes with that day!

I do have one prayer request - please pray that our home study will be completed ASAP and that our dossier will make it to Ukraine (and be submitted) so that we can bring Matthew home before the shutdown.