Thursday morning I got suddenly sick. I was so sick that I decided I needed to go to the doctor to get an antibiotic... I was just SURE I had an infection. ... (ok so far it doesn't sound like "good news" but I promise it is!) ... So in order to get in to see the doctor I had to neglect my afternoon shift at the bank. -which I'm sorry to my co-workers... I heard it was a very busy day!- So. The doctor visit. Lo! and behold! no infection. The doctor didn't know what was wrong with me and chalked it up to allergies. mmhmm -__- It sure felt like I was dying... I don't think allergies do that. Well anyway, I digress...
I spent three hours at the doctor's office waiting, seeing the dr., getting blood tests done, waiting on results, seeing the dr. again, yada yada yada. It was late by the time I was out of there... and I was very depressed because I felt like it was a complete waste of my day. I went to the Dollar Tree to get some necessities before going home. This is where the story starts getting good :)
I sat in my car getting ready to head home, but then something stopped me. I'm not sure what inclined me to do what came next. Let me preface this by saying that all of my communication with our adoption coordinator up to this point had been completely done by email. (I know that's weird, but I'm just weird and really hate talking on the phone, so I usually avoid it at all costs... idk why) ANYWAY! I was hit with the urge to call my coordinator. So, I did... there in the Dollar Tree parking lot. She was excited to hear from me and we just discussed where we were at in the process, what comes next, what we need to do, etc. I mentioned in my previous post about what we need to do next... come up with $5000. We spent some time discussing grant options, how we could not receive our dossier packet until the payment was made, and how we could not apply for a grant until the home study was approved. This payment has the potential to hold up our process for several months... which can be so long during an adoption! I was feeling so grim over it all.
God always sends a blessing, even something so simple. My coordinator paused during the conversation and said, "We always require the $5000 payment to be made before we will release the dossier packet. But you know, we've been working together on this for months, and I know you and your husband are very passionate about adopting and have planned this for a long time. I'm going to go ahead and send you the dossier packet. I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but I just feel like there's a reason you're meant to have this packet today. You'll still need to make the payment, but I won't make you wait until then to receive the documents you need."
By the end of the day on Thursday, all the sick symptoms I was having earlier were gone. Every decision I made that day eventually brought me to that spot, at that exact time. Getting sick, missing work, spending three hours at the doctor... it all brought me to a specific point where I never would have been had I been healthy that day. I called at the right time, and caught my coordinator at just the right time. This is the second time in my life that I've been thankful to God for "striking" me with an illness lol. I owe this random happen-stance of events to God and His meticulous planning. However mischievous it may be. I like to think that God can be mischievous at times :) Sometimes our senses of humor even merge.
It may seem like such a simple thing to make me so overly jubilant. But through the adoption journey, the smallest blessing from God can be the largest source of joy. They remind us that He is writing our story. Suddenly our path doesn't seem so long... our destination not so far away.
* Dossier packet - Includes a list of all documents that you have to chase down and have notarized and authenticated, US Embassy info, Power of Attorney, and a lot of other very important stuff! By having this packet during the home study, we can be finished with it by the time the home study is complete. Which means we can "skip" several months of the adoption process. Quite important to have.
