As we trod through this journey and my heart races every time I hear there is news from Uganda I easily get downtrodden. I am scared. And I know that fear is not a healthy one. We are just getting ready to finish this homestudy and start the immigration process and with the new consulate in Uganda I fear what the future holds.
For those of you keeping up with Ugandan consulate news (so not many of you, I'm sure) you will have heard that just a few weeks ago a new American Consulate has started at the US Embassy in Uganda. What does that mean for us? Nothing right now. But it could have a large impact on our future. What we have learned about Uganda is that there is a new consulate every few years and that when that change occurs, there is a new interpretation of the law. No, the law itself does not change, but the interpretation of that law can mean drastic things for families who fall into the process or who have to adjust from one regime to the next. The problem is, there's no such thing as "grandfathering" someone in from previous regime. This means, if a document requirement changes or how they define "orphan" changes you could be subject to the new requirements and definitions with no warning or way to change it!!! What this means for my friends is that they don't get a visa for their little girl. And who knows if that will change...ever. Ugh. I think what drives me the most crazy about this is that this isn't the Ugandan government doing this. No, this is OUR government making these changes and determination.
I know that we are supposed to be in Uganda. I have people ask me this question all the time, "how did you choose Uganda?" It's not an easy one for me to answer because most people are comfortable with me saying "we just knew." They want concrete. And I can't give them that. But as I look at where we are now I see that there have been fail safes put into place to keep us from changing our minds at this point in time. The first one is that we've already started working with our agency and placement worker (who we LOVE, thanks Heather) and we are ALMOST finished with our home study. In fact, just after the first of the year we should have a finalized document (so stand by for the fundraising letters to come out). I also didn't realize that our home study provider (whom we also love, Jewish Family Services, thank you Michelle), is a non-Hague organization which means we couldn't switch to a Hague country now even if we wanted to (unless we started over). All these things just keep reaffirming to me that we are in this thing for the long haul...I just pray hope that it's on the short end of "long".
Let me stop being so fearful and tell you the good news. We were asked by our agency to produce a profile on a new website called adoptionjourney. Here's our link: http://morgan.adoptionjourney.com/. As part of this, you sign up for a wepay account (like paypal) and put a goal of fundraising. I didn't expect anything from this since we just signed up and haven't advertised for it. And yet, today I got an email that said we had received $25. WHAT??? What's that? A Gift? I don't know who you are, R Jason Locy, but you were used by God today. Because in the midst of my doubts and fears, you gave $25. And that was the kick in the pants I needed to know that God is working and we are where we're supposed to be! So while I can't get your address to send a thank you card, I am thanking you now. You have no idea the impact that that $25 made on me.
For those of you keeping up with Ugandan consulate news (so not many of you, I'm sure) you will have heard that just a few weeks ago a new American Consulate has started at the US Embassy in Uganda. What does that mean for us? Nothing right now. But it could have a large impact on our future. What we have learned about Uganda is that there is a new consulate every few years and that when that change occurs, there is a new interpretation of the law. No, the law itself does not change, but the interpretation of that law can mean drastic things for families who fall into the process or who have to adjust from one regime to the next. The problem is, there's no such thing as "grandfathering" someone in from previous regime. This means, if a document requirement changes or how they define "orphan" changes you could be subject to the new requirements and definitions with no warning or way to change it!!! What this means for my friends is that they don't get a visa for their little girl. And who knows if that will change...ever. Ugh. I think what drives me the most crazy about this is that this isn't the Ugandan government doing this. No, this is OUR government making these changes and determination.
I know that we are supposed to be in Uganda. I have people ask me this question all the time, "how did you choose Uganda?" It's not an easy one for me to answer because most people are comfortable with me saying "we just knew." They want concrete. And I can't give them that. But as I look at where we are now I see that there have been fail safes put into place to keep us from changing our minds at this point in time. The first one is that we've already started working with our agency and placement worker (who we LOVE, thanks Heather) and we are ALMOST finished with our home study. In fact, just after the first of the year we should have a finalized document (so stand by for the fundraising letters to come out). I also didn't realize that our home study provider (whom we also love, Jewish Family Services, thank you Michelle), is a non-Hague organization which means we couldn't switch to a Hague country now even if we wanted to (unless we started over). All these things just keep reaffirming to me that we are in this thing for the long haul...I just pray hope that it's on the short end of "long".
Let me stop being so fearful and tell you the good news. We were asked by our agency to produce a profile on a new website called adoptionjourney. Here's our link: http://morgan.adoptionjourney.com/. As part of this, you sign up for a wepay account (like paypal) and put a goal of fundraising. I didn't expect anything from this since we just signed up and haven't advertised for it. And yet, today I got an email that said we had received $25. WHAT??? What's that? A Gift? I don't know who you are, R Jason Locy, but you were used by God today. Because in the midst of my doubts and fears, you gave $25. And that was the kick in the pants I needed to know that God is working and we are where we're supposed to be! So while I can't get your address to send a thank you card, I am thanking you now. You have no idea the impact that that $25 made on me.
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