Start your engines!

Let the chase begin, the paper chase, that is.  With our adoption agency's swift approval came a literal mountain of documentation to start wading through.  Thankfully, we have a dossier expert who made the effort to call me and talk me through every single requirement, and help me to know which items are priorities right now.  The most overwhelming part about the dossier is not just that we have dozens of documents to supply or have others supply, most of it needing to be notarized and apostilled, but that none of it can be more than a year old at any point in this process.  We will need to stay right on top of every single piece of paper to know when it expires, and make sure that it is renewed far enough in advance to get it to our agency, to India, and in to the hands of the necessary officials there.  Speaking as someone who will add things to my To Do list that I've already done, just for the satisfaction of checking them off, that is a little stressful.  None of it will really be done until we are back home with our child.  In 2+ years.  Welcome to my two year lesson in letting go and leaning on the everlasting arms!  As the song says:

"Two things you told me

That you are strong

And you love me"

Amen.

Our home study is the most crucial piece of the puzzle right now.  Once that is complete, we will technically be eligible for a referral, and can finish up the rest of the initial run on the dossier paperwork asap after the home study is sent to India.  Our first interview is Monday morning.  Please pray that the paper chase goes as smoothly as possible for us, that the documentation would all be correctly filled out and certified the first time through, and that we don't loose our sanity in the process!  The greatest part about this, though, is that we could potentially have our home study done in a month or so.  That means, come the first of the year, we will likely be on the waiting list for a referral!  We have no idea how long that wait will actually be (although it is estimated at 9-18 months), but we will be one giant step closer to knowing our baby and bringing her home!  Praise the Lord!