This Much Closer

Last night as we were all gathered around the dinner table Roman looked at Tony and said, “How close are we to [our new sibling]?” Neither Tony nor I ever have a good answer to this question because the process has been so unpredictable so we simply said, “We’re this much closer, bud.” It’s true, we are closer today than we were yesterday and tomorrow we’ll be closer than we are today. This answer usually satisfies or 5 year-old, but it’s hard to stay content with this answer as two adults in our 30s who have had a plan for most of their lives.

The waiting and silence has been heavy the last few weeks in our home. I (Katie) have gotten to a place where the adoption is in some recessed corner of my mind just waiting to be revisited. I think it’s easier this way. It doesn’t mess with me as much. I can focus on other areas of my life, which is good, and hard, and sometimes not so good. When the waiting becomes lengthy, without end, discontentment can start to fester and the need to move can produce unrest in my Spirit.

This is the place I was in this morning when Roman brought me a little drawing of our family he was working on. One by one he added members and when he was finished he showed me our little family. Super cute. Although he was not satisfied. Something was not right. He continued to draw and came back and said, “There mom, here’s [our sibling] you’re holding him, cause he’s a tiny baby.” It was the first time Roman has drawn our family including our new addition, and even though we all know he’s not a tiny baby the idea of holding him, and seeing it depicted was heart-melting. Beautiful. I think our oldest is incredibly intuitive. He knows what I need to see and hear before I do. He ministered well to my heart on a day I was beginning to feel numb.

I have decided we may also want to add prophetic to the list of characteristics our eldest son possesses because after a much needed heart-to-heart with a good friend, Tony called me as I was on my way home.

“Did you check your email yet?” He said. “Uh, no” I replied. “Well, we got a message from Bethany.” Most of the communication with our agency lately has been business as usual, office closings, matching nights, seminars, nothing super pertinent to our process, so I had a feeling this was big news. “Let me just read it to you”, he said. This was the message:

Hi Chiaramonte family!

Since you were preliminarily matched to a child prior to your dossier being logged in, your dossier is being expedited by the CCCWA. According to their online system, your dossier has now been translated. It is awaiting review and approval so that it can be matched up to the child’s file. The review process may still take several weeks, but once that is complete, we will be very close to LOA!

This is huge! HUGE! A process that we thought might take us through Christmas may be finished up by the end of the month. There is still immigration paperwork, visas and travel that all take time, but a huge chunk of what needs to be accomplished will be done within the next several weeks! Words cannot express the feeling of lightness and joy this brings! We truly are this much closer to bringing our “baby” home.

I am reminded today again of what Jesus has been saying to my heart so often during this process, “So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.” This has been banging around in my mind and today when I looked it up I found it in Deuteronomy 5. The following verse is just as impactful, “You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.”

As the Israelites believed in the Promised Land, Tony and I believe that the “land which you will possess” is none other than the Kingdom of God, the New World Order where Jesus reigns as King over all! I am reminded today that so many things distract us from this reality, but when we follow His commands for our own lives and we walk in the way He has commanded us it will be well with us and we will be “this much closer” to the reality of Kingdom of God in our lives. 

Originally Posted on 10/10/14 on our YouCaring site.

To follow our story or become part of our team of support please visit our YouCaring site.