To say things have been quiet is an understatement. The only news we've had from the agency is that our social worker has gone on maternity leave until September (irony in action, huh?)...and we received our clearance renewal paperwork in the mail on Saturday. Every year, in order to keep your home study active, you have to undergo a battery of background checks, medical exams, and questions about your household status, and what changes have taken place since the previous year. They want to make sure you haven't been arrested, or had a heart attack, or gotten a divorce.
The agency sends the packet plenty early to make sure you have time to get your fingerprints and child abuse clearances, which can take up to two months to receive, so there's no gap during which your homestudy goes inactive. We've only been waiting a little under 7 months, but that packet feels like both an insult and a badge of honor. It says our next 5 months may well be as disappointing as the last 7, but we've made it this far, and we'll make it however long it takes.
My giraffe cross stitch is almost done. I should finish it in the next week or so, and then I can start patchworking all the blocks together. It's taken me a solid 10 months to get this far, probably more like 11 by the time it's completed, right around the year mark from when we first started the adoption process. I'm not sure what my next project is going to be. Everything feels done. The nest is...nested.
I've been communicating back and forth with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. They expressed some concern about me taking on the responsibility, when a possible serious life change could be on the horizon. But here's the thing I've begun to learn from the wait: if you live each day like the call could come today, you go to bed each night disappointed. I had thought about becoming a Big Sister for years, but it never seemed like the right time. Then, I actively avoided children through most of our infertility struggle because being around them was too hard. Now I have the chance to enjoy the experience of having a child in my life, and I'm going to take it.
God's been moving me to search for more fulfillment in my life. Enjoy each day more. All you can do in life is try.
