Digging In

Today we were supposed to send our first payment to the facilitator in Ukraine. We were going to wire it, and he sent very specific instructions with detailed information, account numbers, etc. that we took down to our bank. Unfortunately, we live in Podunk, USA. They don't send too many of them thar forin money teli-grams.
They thought that maybe they would need some routing numbers. Though he provided the swift account #'s. The master was like, "This man has done this thousands of times! I'm sure he has provided you with all the necessary information." But they wouldn't listen. Humbled, I had to e-mail the facilitator and tell him we failed in our very first mission.
Welcome back to the world of international adoption.
Then this afternoon our homestudy packet arrived. It is a large notebook. I thought I would be excited, but instead I felt a sense of dread as I flipped through the plethora of paperwork that has to be filled out, all the financial information that has to be tracked down and tallied, the medical exams, the copies...I closed the notebook and walked away. I looked around the dinner table and thought, "We are such a nice family. We are happy. Content. Comfortable. Now why did I want to change that? International adoption is such a hassle. So expensive. So draining."
Right now we would only be out $50 bucks. I don't think the church folks will even remember. Oh sure, a year from now, someone may make the off-handed remark, "Hey, weren't ya'll going to get another one?" But we could always drum up some church excuse like, "Well, we prayed some more about it and decided it wasn't what God had for us." Easy. I could just go in and delete a few drafts from the blog and that would be that.
Then tonight I read Tami's blog and she posted this video. **Grab some tissues before you click**
Ukraine here we come!