Not So Scary

DOSSIER

sounds scary. it isn't. last week i emailed our adoption agency looking for our next steps. the homestudy is completed and we are waiting for final approval. after that we can file our national background check, fingerprints, and apply for visas to enter china. this paperwork is called the 1-800 a. i was the most worried about this granddaddy.

our dossier(file of 13 documents required to adopt) consultant sent me an email package with a 67 page instruction booklet...

gulp!



i am terrible at following directions. that is why i can't bake. don't believe me? ask my family. i have never made edible cookies. even from one of those packages where you only add water. still don't believe me?even my brownies turn out awful, except for if your name is fred or you are my husband, then you appreciate raw in the middle brownies...the best of both worlds-half baked and half straight from the mixing bowl.

so i am expected to follow a 67 page instruction booklet? i read the first 10 pages and decided i changed my mind. i am not adopting. when i told my friend M this, she smiled that knowing smile and asked if this was the first time i was deciding this. i told her no-it was the second. after assuring me that it will be at least 12 more times, i felt a bit better.

the dossier consultant called me tuesday to answer one of my hundreds of nervous questions and asked if i had read the guide. yes, but i couldn't get my mind wrapped around the i 800 a, i told her. she said ok work on getting your

birth certificates....

CHECK already done

get your marriage license

CHECK already done

passports

CHECK got those the week after we decided to adopt

how about your physicals

CHECK already done and notarized

employment verification?

CHECK done that too

financial statement

CHECK yup did that for the home study

police background check

CHECK even has a gold seal on it

home study completed?

CHECK awaiting approval

family lifestyle photos

CHECK did those too for the home study

application letter?????

no, what's that? found out it is in the dossier guide. who knew? i can't make heads or tails of that monster. i guess i'll do that today i told her.

she said, ok write the application letter and email me all you have already. so i did. then she emailed me back and said the dossier is just waiting on homestudy approval and the i- 800 a. seriously?

i did a dossier?????

you betcha. she sort of tricked me. i guess i just needed it broken down. it was more scary in theory than actuality. it took me just a couple of days to do it. of course my friends, d, j, and m gave me a big head start and told me i needed the birth cert, marriage license, passport, and police background checks, which i did even before we formally applied to adopt. i had NO idea i WAS working on the dossier.

THANK YOU GOD FOR PROVIDING ME WITH FRIENDS AND A GREAT ADOPTION AGENCY!!!



that was easy. i was worried for nothing. how many times we are worried about the unknown when it is really nothing to be worried about at all? to think i almost paid $1200 for the dossier service which would do the paperchase for me. i saved us some serious cash and boosted my confidence. priceless.

what could i accomplish in my life if i only trusted my own abilities? profound. lesson learned.

this week i learned to trust myself, to be peaceful in the midst of the storm, stay in action, and that God has everything worked out already...i just have to get out of His way.

anyone that says it is too hard to adopt. take a lesson from me and know that we always will get to our destination by taking one step at a time.

tuesday was so successful, that today i spent the afternoon compiling our letter of intent/referral package to adopt the little girl we have been preliminarily matched with. hang on sweetie, we're acomin' for ya.

now, it is just a waiting game. lots of amending, lots of paper shuffling, translating documents, you know bureaucratic stuff.

i know there will be more hurdles along the way, but i already warned those mountains...

LOOK OUT! MY GOD IS REALLY BIG!

oh i need to plug my coffee store. we are raising money for the adoption. you buy fair trade coffee, we get a big percentage of the sales as a donation. the farmers get a fair market price. a child gets a forever family. you get a caffeine buzz. everybody wins! buy some...please?

www.justlovecoffee.com/thehallorans