Preparing Our Dossier

We are now preparing our dossier for Bulgaria - the final phase of paperwork. It contains a lot of the same information as the paperwork we have already filled out, so one would think it would be easy.

No...

This is probably the hardest set of paperwork so far... and why? Because some of the documents need to be no older than two months old when sent to Bulgaria. "Oh, that should be easy," you say.

Yes...

Except that most of these documents need to be notorized. "Still easy," you say.

Then we send each individual document to the state government of the document's orgin to be authorized. It is a sort of notorization of the notorized document. And the timeframe in which this is accomplished is uncertain and varies from state to state. So while it may only take a few weeks for Virginian documents, California documents could take months... we just don't know until it happens. It could happen quickly for one document, and take forever for the others.

It is sort of like rubbing your tummy, while patting your head, while jump roping blindfolded - except the pats can only happen two seconds after the rubs. It might only be do-able if the rhythm of the rope is in time with the pats and rubs.

So please pray that we get the timing of all of this just right - otherwise, we have to start the dossier from scratch and try again, losing time and money.

On top of praying for the timing, could you  please also pray for time? It is in short supply nowdays and I have trouble squeezing in the paperwork here and there. We both work full time, have long commutes and are super involved with leadership tasks at church - leading Bible studies, teaching Sunday School, counseling, council, etc. Not to mention the time we love spending with friends - which is so precious to us that we'd rather lose sleep than lose our "iron sharpens iron" times. Sometimes it feels like we don't even have time to breathe. The good news is, we also don't have time enough to complain about being too busy. :) So please do pray we can balance and prioritize our time during this last season of paperwork.

Speaking of seasons... I cannot wait for Spring! The flowers, the warm air, and babies everywhere! We should be ready to send our dossier off to Bulgaria by then (or soon after) and, hopefully, by next Easter, we will have a little new chick of our own. Peep, peep!