Weathering the Storm

Two weeks ago we had tornado touch downs and high winds all over town. One of them even hit a few miles from our house. We had no damage, thank goodness. One week ago we had storms and tornadoes again that had us huddling in the basement at 12:30 am. Again, no damage, thank goodness. One week later, this Tuesday we had a winter storm. Snow, freezing rain, iced over limbs and lines. For us, no damage thank goodness.

Most of this pales for us after what has to be the most difficult weekend involving our adoption of Aidan. After the new law passed on December 11th, we were given 30 business days after the new law took affect (1/1/08) to register our case with the new Central Authority (CA) in order to proceed. Not registering meant losing the ground we’d gain and Aidan leaving the foster family (paid for by our attorney) and being turned over to the CA for placement (and not necessarily with us). So to say that registration was crucial is an understatement.

As the deadline has loomed much chaos ensued in Guatemala. The leaving President appointed 3 leaders of the CA. One day later the new Pres took office and fired these 3 wanting to appoint his own leaders. The old leaders wouldn’t leave. The new President wouldn’t release the funds to run the office. Lawsuits began. What a mess.

On Thursday 2/7 the courts finally made it official that the old people had to get out and also passed a ruling that the old forms the attorneys had filled out for the old CA would suffice. The new CA said sure, bring ‘em over and we’ll give you a number and you’re good to go. Ha Ha. The first day of registration only 47 cases went through. It’s estimated that there over 3000 cases remaining. Would they extend the deadline for us? Probably not. The 30 days was written into the new adoption law…to change would have to be the passing of a new law by congress.

So all weekend we cried, prayed, yelled, surfed the internet 24-7 for any word of how things were progressing. On Monday I had hoped to hear from our agency but was basically told the attorneys were working on it. I lost it. I called my Mom in a last ditch to get a hold of myself and not force Dave to sedate/murder me. She talked me through my fears: my fear that if I wasn’t positive and faithful that Aidan would not come home, my fear that if I did believe he would come home then it wouldn’t happen to teach me a lesson. After crying and crying some more I knew that one thing I could do was reach out to family and friends and ask for their prayers and good thoughts. When I did I immediately felt better.

The next morning, ten hours before the deadline ended, we got the email that we were registered. There was no damage, thank goodness.

I know this little boy is ours, just the way I looked at the picture of Emmy with a scowl on her little face and her shaved head and knew she was ours. There is a long road ahead in the process and I fully expect them to pull the rug out from under us again. But I’m going to wear my sturdy shoes and plant my feet firmly on the ground. It ain’t over till it’s over.

Is this adoption harder than the adoption of Emmy? In some ways, no. While we waited for Emmy there was no little girl laughter in the other room, no cries of “I pee-pee’d on the floor Mommy”, no reason to straighten up the toys for the hundredth time this month. I couldn’t let myself believe I would ever be a mom; I was shell-shocked after trying for so long. Now I know I am. But this adoption is testing me in a different way. It’s showing me that I’ve got to a mom to the child in the room while my gut rips open in the hopes of the other child. I know it’s teaching me a lot of other things too, like it’s okay to hope for the best and prepare for the worst at the same time. That’s just me. But I need to get ready for this little guy and two governments keep telling me that it might be a waste of time. But I’m not listening to them anymore. I’m listening to myself (and the weather guys so I know when to go to the basement).