We have wanted to adopt for quite sometime and now we are on that journey. Please follow along with us, ask questions, make comments, join us as we adopt and see our lives change once again!
As you are probably aware our visa, indefinite leave to remain status in this country has been up in the air for quite sometime. If you are not aware of the situation we applied for this final visa to the UK back in June and as yet have not heard anything. There is a 6 month window that the Home Office promises to respond but we did not expect to have to wait that long. Waiting seems to be an aspect of life which Rebecca and I get plenty of practice. We excitedly and nervously sent all of our passports, paperwork, pictures and money off to the Home Office by post and then simply never heard anything for months. Long months of hearing nothing, it reminds me of back in the day what it might have felt like for missionaries who travelled to far off lands only to be able to communicate through letters that took months to reach distant shores. It must have felt like they were cast aside, out of sight out of mind.
As our last blog entry said we engaged our church family into our situation, we invited them to stand with us to pray that we'd get the visa, get the passports, be able to travel to the US, be able to carry on with the adoption process and ultimately continue living here without immigration issues. At the very end of the meeting on the Sunday, a man by the name of David Graham suggested to me to contact our MP, Sir George Young. I thought that was an interesting idea and most likely one from God. I ran it past a couple other people, they thought it a good plan too so on the Monday I sent an email to him, not sure of what it would elicit but it certainly could not hurt.
By the Friday we had a letter from Parliament signed by Sir Young that he was doing all that could for our situation. This blew us away, here we are simply residents (not even legal for long-term) and he, who was in a higher place was working on our behalf. It doesn't take a clever theologian to see the analogy there, we humans calling on Jesus who is infinitely higher than we are in all ways working on our behalf. He is seated at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf, on your behalf. Anyway it was great to know that we had someone higher working behind the scenes.
Fast forward to today, and just about an hour ago the doorbell rang, my heart raced, Rebecca leapt up to answer it, I heard an unfamiliar voice and then Rebecca say OK. A bit more silence and then she bound into the room with an envelope that looked much like one we have been eagerly awaiting. There they were our passports, other documents and a formal letter stating that our approved residence permits would be in our possession within 7 working days.
Bigger news just happened... Our residence permits were just delivered by a jolly bald man, he didn't realise what he was giving us, we had big smiles he then had big smiles:) Being able to connect with someone higher is amazing, and knowing that the Lord hears our prayers is about as comforting as it gets. have a listen to Higher by Creed
When last a blog post was put up we were in full-on waiting mode for various documents, some more important than others. You can be relieved since that update we have gotten bankcards sorted, driver's licences have come through the post but what has not turned up is our visa/passport packet. This is obviously a big issue to us, without it we can't travel to the USA, we can't legally live here for long-term, nor can carry on fully with the adoption process. This does not mean that we are worried about the status, we don't expect any troubles being approved, we have not had communication stating that there are issues, we simply have not been on the receiving end of the documents yet.
For quite a while it was not really on our minds, there were plenty of other aspects of life on our minds but not the visa/passport. It was truly out of sight out of mind, in this case out of sight for months so out of mind for months until recognising that it was in fact an issue. We have the whole church praying, many others who are concerned so we don't feel alone in this at all. The church family that we lead here in Overton has been so supportive and intensely interested in the whole process really from the beginning up till now. They are an amazing group of people, ones that we have come to experience as family as friends.
As you are probably aware we live here in the UK and while it is home to us it is not where we are from, and there is not any family within a day's travel. For Rebecca and I our friends have always been so precious to us, and after living here for now more than five years we continue to see the immense value that friendships are to us. Just yesterday we both had conversations with friends who were so supportive of our lives and the adoption process specifically. Both speaking truth, encouragement, asking tough questions and showing their heart-felt interest. This is a normal occurrence from day-to-day to have such support around us.
As we have gotten closer to the planned USA travel dates in November of this year our excitement has risen to see many friends and our small families back in the states. We do look so forward to seeing so many familiar faces (can't name them all here, don't want to leave any out:) as we have always been so supported with our move here and certainly with the adoption process. It has been over two years now since we first jumped in the deep water of adoption by nervously making phone calls and sending emails seeking to see if we would be eligible even though living abroad. Of course now involved in the process here in the UK it feels as though we have come full circle, alas we are not finished with the process. We have had three of our meetings during our homestudy with two more planned in the next couple of weeks. These are quite laid back meetings at our house and there are some homework questions that we complete before each one. Mostly it is about either looking back at childhood or looking forward to how we would raise children. It feels as though the train keeps going on down the tracks that are laid, maybe not as quick as we would like but it's chugging along.
There are a few words in life that are consistently part of the every day; breathing, eating, walking, sleeping to name a few, may I add to our lives... waiting. I know we're not the only ones to wait, we all do, although it does feel like Rebecca and I get extra opps to perfect our waiting stances. As you might have recognised there has not been a blog entry in quite sometime, most of this down to the fact we were waiting on our internet/phone line for about a month after moving in. A communal ahhh rose forth from our new dwelling when the little light on the router turned yellow and the dial tone existed once again. Living without the web is obviously doable, but it is frustrating, and we waited to be back on line. s to attain UK leave to remain visas. That would mean we can live here, come and go as we please (within reason) and not have to apply for visas every couple of years. There is a six month window that the UKBA promises to grant visas within, for us it has never taken long at all. So with gusto we marched into the post office and mailed off all of our documentation, the trouble is we have not heard anything yet. This is concerning on various levels, without our passports we can't travel abroad (planning trip to US in November) we don't have the assurity (word?) that this is in fact our home for the long term, we can't really move forward with adoption plans, we don't have some major forms of i.d. and lastly we can't even check on the status as there is no number, website or person to enquire from. It's not the worst, nobody has been seriously injured or been fired from a job with a huge mortgage to pay, but wow would we love to see that registered piece of mail arrive at our door.
About 3 months ago or a bit more now we sent off our paperwork and passport
The other day I unfortunately left my bankcard at a local grocery store, I didn't realise it till a couple of days later. After a phone call they confirmed that they did have the card and I could pick it up from them at the customer service desk. The next day after showing them my drivers license i.d. I was infomed that my card had been destroyed since it had not been picked up within a certain time of being found. OK after getting over that I went to the bank to acquire a new card, I handed them my i.d. and the addresses didn't match. Rebecca and I happened to be passing the bank the day or so after moving and we changed our address as you are meant to do, we had not done it yet with the drivers license (no internet etc...) so then I had to prove that
I was who I said I was. After some confusion it was determined that they would put a new card in the post and it would arrive in a couple of days. Alas we wait, not only for our drivers licenses with updated addresses but now for a bankcard too. I forgot my wallet yesterday then remembered there isn't much in there that I can use anyhow!
We look forward with anticipation when all of the above is sorted out, but until that time the arrival of the postman brings a rush of excitement each and every day. At least now we have moved, we have settled into our new abode, we are back on line so we're not waiting for everything:) If you are a prayer then please pray that we'll get our much needed visas and passports, we thank you oh so much!
Enjoy the Mumford and Sons song called 'I Will Wait' it's what we all do isn't it?
