Setbacks......not a fan

   So I emailed my social worker (SW) yesterday because I hadn't received my approval letter. She had me call her which, right off the bat, scared me. However, I got up the nerve to call. When she submitted her home study report, her supervisor came back with a couple of concerns. While I have one of the concerns in the process of getting fixed, it's the other one that may delay this adoption process and scares me the most, so that's the one I will tell you all about.

   When my social worker started my home study there were a lot of changes coming down because of  Russia's closure of adoptions. Most of the international adoption agencies are now having to follow Hague standards, which is a more detailed home study and more in depth background check. Since these changes hadn't officially hit this agency, my SW received permission to complete the home study using their regular guidelines, because she had already started the process. Now that there are setbacks and the report isn't complete, they may have to change it to follow these Hague guidelines, which will delay my adoption by quite some time.

   Oh, can I tell you how my prayers have changed? I pray for understanding in what these changes will mean to me, I pray for those in charge that they will have an open mind and be willing to allow the report to go through as is, but the hardest part, is allowing myself to pray for "Thy will be done, not mine". While this is the single most thing I want to happen in my life, I know I cannot force it happen faster than The Lord wants it happen. I must submit myself to Him and rely on His timeline, not mine.

   How truly grateful I am to two friends who remind me daily to keep the faith, and who help me through these "hard times", though not really hard, they just seem to be. Friends who calm me by saying that they are praying for me without hesitation. Friends who I go to everyday to let them know where I am in spirit and emotion, who listen to the good and bad, and who never tell me to stop bugging them. Thank you both for the great friends you are. I love you both so much.