The Miracle of the Soggy Home Study

Our current 171-H (permission to bring home a foreign born orphan) expires on November 11, 2009. We have to update our paperwork every 18 months. The update includes criminal background checks, DMV record checks, Child Protective Services background checks, medical exams and a visit to our home by our Social Worker. It's kinda a big deal.

Our home visit was October 12. Because of recent changes to the way USCIS approves couples to bring an orphan to the US, we had to have major tweaks to our home study, so it took a little longer than normal. While our SW was updating our study, another couple had some issues with the USCIS, so she wanted to get to the bottom of that issue to make sure that our home study was compliant.

So finally, on October 23, our SW FedExed our homestudy update and papers to us. Mind you, this package contains our homestudies (our entire life history ~ how we were raised, our relationships with our families, our education, how we met and fell in love, how we plan to parent, our financial situation, etc.), copies of our birth certificates, copy of our marriage licence, copies of our drivers licences, our social security numbers, you get the idea ~ mega personal stuff.

We thought it might come on Monday, but the FedEx tracker said that the package would be delivered on Tuesday by 7 pm.

Tuesday evening, I was at church for our parish mission. The theme of the night was the gospel of Luke, and Fr. Jude spoke a lot about discernment. How we know if we are following God's plan when things seem to fall in place and we feel a certain peace.

So when we got home (B was at another meeting) and discovered that neither of us picked up the package, we checked the tracker, and it said that it was delivered at 2:36 PM. I was out in the rain, searching the yard with a flash light looking to see if the package somehow blew into the bushes. It was 9:15 pm, too late to knock on neighbors' doors to see if they received the package by mistake. B got on the phone with FedEx and demanded to know where the package was delivered, but they were unable to tell us anything until they spoke to the driver in the morning.

I jumped online to see when the paperwork HAD to be in to the USCIS. Basically, the answer was asap. We called our SW on her cell phone to see if we could arrange a new package to be put together on Wednesday so we could drive down and pick it up. Our SW told us that they would track the package first thing Wednesday AM, and if need be drop another one in FedEx so it would arrive Friday. Cutting it way close for comfort! Plus there was the "small" matter of our super personal information being lost somewhere out in the world!

We were just so devastated. We have hit road block after road block in this adoption journey. What if this was a sign that we were just supposed to stop the insanity and pull out of China? I was IMing my friend during this crisis while researching online, and she said that God does not communicate that way ~ it is more of the devil's MO. So after much soul searching and tears, we went to bed around 11:30 pm, ready to get up first thing and start tracking and deciding what to do.

Around midnight, our dog started barking. I heard the storm door open and close. I thought it might not be latched, and since it was stormy out, the wind was blowing it around. So I grab my glasses and my robe and stumble down the stairs to check the door. When I opened the door, guess what I found ~ a very soggy FedEx package containing our home study packet!

The pages were a bit wet around the bottom edge, but I was able to dry them with my hair dryer, and then I put them under our big family bible to flatten out. The were in great shape in the morning, and we were able to sign them and put them in the express mail later that day.

So, is the miracle that the FedEx driver came out at midnight to deliver a lost package?

Or is it that a neighbor got home at midnight and found the misdelivered package and decided to bring it to us right then and there instead of waiting until morning?

Or perhaps the miracle that God saw our despair and stepped in and said "You are going to complete this adoption. You will have that home study tonight," and prompted someone to bring us that package that night.

This has been a long strange journey. It has at times alienated me from God, and at other times given me great insight into our relationship with Him. Right now we are on good terms. I hope this is the beginning of a climb out of this valley to a wonderful new peak!

:D