How Long is the Wait? Part 3

Well just a quick update. We are now 9 months into the process and about 6.5 cm.  We are still waiting to get the last of the More Information over to the Philippines.  Hopefully that will happen later this week.  Here at home we are prepping for Thanksgiving and definitely appreciate all the blessings we have.

Lost

The news reports are still coming in.  ABC reported that there are estimates of 10,000 dead in one city alone.  Other reports mentions 10,000 total.  Either way that is a HUGE number.  I can't fathom that amount of loss.

Image from foxnews.com

To put it into some type of perspective, the town that we live in is around 43,000 people.  What would it mean to have 1 out 4 people die from our town alone?  It would mean that one person from our family was dead... and the same from all of our friends in town.  One report says that the storm has destroyed 70-80% of structures in its path.  What does that mean for those left behind?

It is so hard to read about the devastation. I cannot get through an article without tears streaming down my face.

Here are a couple of articles that I read.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/10/us-philippines-typhoon-idUSBRE9A603Q20131110

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/10/strongest-typhoon-year-hits-philippines/

More Information

That has been the theme of our days earlier this week.  On Wednesday we got an email from ICAB (the Philippine government adoption board) asking us to provide 8 additional pieces of information.  At first this sounded a little disheartening.  We spent the last 6 months pulling together paperwork and now they ask for more.  In the end we viewed this as a good thing.  It means somebody has actually looked at our paperwork and it isn't just sitting in a pile.  Also, the things they were asking were not too hard to gather.  A couple of them were very easy and handled by Chrysalis House, our placement agency.  A few were things that we could easily take care of like getting a paper notarized and taking pictures of some bedrooms.  Three others needed to be answered by the social worker who did our home study but not really anything major.  Lastly was the request for the raw data from some psychological tests we had taken previously.  This one worried us a bit.  We had asked for this information previously and our psychologist would not give it to us.  Instead she wrote a letter explaining why she would not release it.  Well, we should have remembered that God has been in control of the whole process.  When I emailed the psychologist to ask for the info, she said all she needed was a letter from us acknowledging that the info was going to somebody who was not a trained psychologist.  That was a pretty easy letter to write.

As Jenn and I sat at the bank waiting for our paperwork to be notarized, the lady helping us was having some trouble deciphering what was being asked for.  The wording was a little funny so I said it was understandable since it had been written by a foreign government.  This prompted her to mention that she and her husband were thinking about adopting and it was a very overwhelming process.  We agreed with her and she then asked us for more information.  We were happy to share our experience so far and had a good conversation.  As these things go, she attends Reston Bible Church and has been to at least one HOPE event.  I hope that we will be able stay in contact with her and be a support for her during this journey.  We have felt blessed by so many who have gone before us that it would be nice to be able to do the same for others.

Super Typhoon Hits the Philippines

Photo Credit: www.nbcnews.com

You may have heard that super typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on Frday morning.  This storm is said to be the strongest storm in at least 30 years.  It had estimated sustained winds of 195 mph and gusts up to 235 mph.  I remember some of the devastation that Katrina and Sandy have caused here in the States.  I can only imagine how much damage would be caused by a stronger storm in an island country where many people's homes are made of scrap metal and wood.  

Please be praying for the country.  It is reported that at this point at least 10,000 people are in shelters and it is unknown how many causlaties there might be.  As you know, we are hoping to adopt from the Philippines but we also have family and friends who live there.

A Newsletter

At this point we have not heard anything new.  Our dossier have been in country for about a month and a half now.  We were originally told that the Philippines usually takes 1-2 months to approve a dossier.  So we eagerly are waiting to hear.  Hopefully we will be able to add it to the list of things we are thankful for at Thanksgiving.  

Our placement agency publishes a newsletter twice a year.  This release features a story about a couple who adopted from the Philippines to read it click here.  If you are interested in reading some of the previous newsletters you can click here.