Musings of a Whimsical Realist

As we have begun 2015, the year in which we will bring home our next daughter home from China, I find myself reflecting on the process thus far.  How far we've come since last spring !  I began tentatively looking into adoption agencies and soon found myself in the whirlwind of finding Sibyl and moving forward with our official paperwork.  So as I pause, here are some of the thoughts and blessings we experienced. 1. Finding Sibyl!   She was the 7th file that we tried to review and only the second file that we got to review.  We had to go through the pain of returning a file for another sweet little girl and trusting that we would be led to our next daughter.  This is a highly personal and individual process that all of our new adoptive friends on FB have also had to go through. 2. The blessings that have come in financially !  Several direct donations and quite a few "tips" on items that we have sold are all greatly appreciated!  We have se...

So I’ve managed a few fun blogs, but it’s been a while since I’ve updated on the adoption process.  One reason is the hustle and bustle of the holiday season (starting with Thanksgiving and continuing through the New Year).  And the other reason is that this part of the process isn’t very interesting.  Insane, busy, daunting, and detailed, but not particularly an exciting read. So where are we now that the dust is beginning to settle? The majority of the paperwork has had its t’s crossed and its i’s dotted.  Full physicals for me and Hubby; passports arrived; pretty much every aspect of our lives documented, signed, and notarized.  We are almost through the 12 online education hours (to complete by next weekend) . . . and then on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th, we have our home study home visit!  That will be the last step of the home study process, and we are so excited to be at that point! Financially, our belts are tightening.  ...

I have a confession to make, a seasonal guilty pleasure . . . I love Christmas movies!  Classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street.”  And the not-so-classic made-for-TV cheeseball movies.  I consume them like a chocoholic chowing down a bag of Dove bars! Talking reindeer?  Awesome!  Sappy kissing under mistletoe?  Love it!  Glitter, glitz, lights, twinkling stars, snowy landscapes?  The best! So why the confession?  Because Christmas movies capture for me an essential quality of the holiday season.  The whimsy of a time when we take a pause to enjoy the magical, the memorable, the beautiful, the nostalgic, and the sacrificial. For someone like me, Christmas is a 2-sided coin.  There is the whimsical wonder of the more “commercial” or “traditional” side of the season.  Then there is the reality of God the Son coming to earth as a frail human baby, beginning His journey to the cross and salvation for...

As I have explained to people that we are hoping to have Sibyl home in 6-8 months, the same comment has come up many times: “It must be so hard to know she is there waiting for you and to not be able to go get her yet.”  In a nutshell, the answer is “Yes!” This excerpt is from my journal yesterday morning.  I felt compelled to share it since it touched so specifically on a moment in the process of waiting. I woke up with a heartache this morning – an ache for a 20-month-old halfway around the world.  Last  night, for the first time, I dreamt that she was here.  I was able to hold her and hug her and talk to her.  Then I woke up and she wasn’t here.  My arms felt empty for her.  I hugged her sisters and brother, but a piece of my heart was still missing.  Waiting for me. I think God gave me the dream to quicken my heart.  In the shadow of mountains of cold, sterile paperwork, it is easy to lose hold of the heart of a warm, living l...

So Part I of this topic covered the general "rules" that I adhere to with organizing.  Now to share a few of my specific and favorite ways that I've organized at home! #1 -- The re-purposed file holder.  This is on the back of my laundry room drawer.  When I fold a load of socks and find a single all by its lonesome, it goes in here until its mate resurfaces.  I have seen variations of this idea (ie. a clothesline on the laundry room wall), but I have to say, having somewhere to put the lone socks is great! #2 -- What to do with all of those pretty hair clips that your daughters end up collecting?  I got one of those photo boards from Wal-Mart for under $10 (could also make your own, you crafties out there!).  Now they are aren't taking up drawer space in the bathroom AND they double as wall art in the girls' room! #3 -- I re-purposed an old laundry hamper as our family shoe basket (we are a generally "no-shoe" house").  Shoes go ...

WE GOT IT!!!  That’s right, we got our pre-approval!  We made the official announcement to our families and then on Facebook last Friday after we got the good (amazing, awesome, fantastic) news.  I planned to get it onto here sooner than this, but Hubby’s birthday weekend followed by the busy start to the week followed by a flu bug took pretty much all of my energy.  But I’m mended and ready to start MOUNTAINS of paperwork.  And I couldn’t be happier! Before I answer some of the questions that I’ve been fielding about where we go from here, let me just say . . . when God calls you to a path, follow it!  We were strongly encouraged to consider other options back in May and told that the odds were not in our favor.  We stepped out in faith that the Lord was calling us in a clear direction, and we needed to follow it until it ran its full (and not necessarily easy) course.  Already, His hand has been clearly seen in this process.  Funds av...

Before anyone jumps ahead, let me clarify that we are still waiting for a final word on our pre-approval.  BUT something significant happened yesterday! A week ago Wednesday (the 8th), the CCCWA (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption) returned from holiday, and our paperwork was waiting for them.  [Reminder: we are requesting 2 waivers to be able to move forward with adopting our little girl.]  We knew that we were looking at a typically two-week wait to hear back from them.  Imagine my surprise when Monday of this week (a mere 5 days later) I received a late-night email asking me to call our agency the next morning (no, I did NOT fall asleep easily that night!). The next morning’s conversation was rather neutral in that our agency had heard back from the CCCWA requesting more detailed information regarding our finances.  Obviously not the immediate “Yes” that we were hoping for but not a “No” either.  We were sent the financial form that is...