Randomly on Wednesday

1. I hate spring.

2. I really hate spring.

3. I've been laid up all day with allergies - when my allergies attack it is with the force of the flu, rather than the common cold. I essentially have to take a sick day from life, which with two little boys is exactly as easy as it sounds.

4. Domino's for lunch and Texas Move & Flip for the boys makes life much easier.

5. Shipt is coming to Chattanooga, and I'm very excited, but also conflicted. Excited: groceries delivered! This is magnificent. Conflicted: Is this too decadent? Is it ok to spend $$ on a luxury like this when you're asking people for $$ for your adoption?

6. (Even though we've raised all the money we anticipate we'll need for the adoption (Praise Jesus!), this question comes up a lot in my head.)

7. The adoption is at a standstill again. A while ago, we sent off for our Very Important Piece of Paper from Homeland Security (One of the DOZENS of pieces of paper that we have to collect that all say the same thing: These are nice people. It's ok if they adopt.), and last week we got a Request for More Evidence, asking that we have an updated Child Abuse Search. Our adoption worker gets Someone Official to run our names and fingerprints through the database again, to make sure we haven't been arrested for anything horrible since the last time we had our names and fingerprints run through the database.

8. This does make sense. I acknowledge that. However, couldn't Homeland Security have anticipated that since by definition when you are updating this VIPP there is a time gap between the present time and the last time you were fingerprinted, maybe they should ask for this updated search on the same form that you're filling out to request the VIPP be updated? Maybe that would save us all a little time?

9. This was supposed to be about a 48-hour turnaround. Someone Official runs the search, which they typically take 24 hours to do, and then we were going to pay to have it overnighted to Homeland Security. (Because they don't accept email, fax or smoke signal. Naturally.) It has taken over a week.

10. The only conclusion I can come to here is that God is deliberately slowing our adoption down. There have been so many things at this stage of the game that are totally out of our control that have just taken forever. Roadblocks thrown up where no roadblocks were anticipated. (Seriously, wassup with that, God?) This is maddening (Does no one UNDERSTAND that a CHILD is growing up without parents???) and discouraging.

11. The only thing that helps is remembering that last year, God held us in place, delaying and delaying and closing doors for almost a YEAR. And it turned out that the tightrope path we had walked through that ordeal was the ONLY path that could have led to us being matched with our Mei-Mei. Who is all kinds of sparkly awesomeness and who delights us from half-way around the world. Just because we see no plan and no point, does not mean that there is no plan and no point.