A Speedy NOC + COURT

Happy Monday! I am currently sitting at the Honda dealership as I write this - a little unexpected down time.  I thought I'd go ahead and write my newest update.

This past Saturday, our family upgraded to a minivan as we prepare to be a family of (5) with one still in a booster seat and two in full size car seats.

I must say, it was a tough swap for momma, but this thing definitely has all the bells and whistles!  I am already loving the sliding doors...no more kiddos banging doors in to things.

Less than 12 hours later...we had a screw in the tire...hence the reason I'm at Honda (again!) on my Monday morning.

Now on to the GOOD news!

WE GOT OUR NOC THIS MORNING...ONLY A ONE WEEK WAIT!!

If you remember from my last update, NOC can take anywhere from two weeks to six months.  I have prayed so hard we'd be on the shorter end...and boy did God show up and show us what he could do!

This is a HUGE step for us.  NOC stands for No Objection Certificate.  This means that all parties involved in our adoption have no problem with us adopting S.  This certificate is issued by CARA in India and was our last big step before proceeding to court.

So the big question is - what happens next?  I asked our agency the same thing this morning and I'll share her response:

"So this is the point where patience has to take over. The RIPA (our orphanage) now has to wait for the hard copy of the NOC to arrive which can take a couple of weeks. Your prepared file will then have to be completed and turned over to court. Some RIPAs have the files prepared as the process moves along and some wait until NOC to start working on it, so registration is very different for everyone. After your file is registered it can take a few days up to a couple of weeks for a “numbering” process which is basically putting you in line to have a hearing set. From there, the first hearing will be scheduled."

This hearing is our official adoption hearing.  Our adoption will be finalized and she will be OUR'S once we clear court in India.  

Many have asked if we have to be present for court.  Some states in India require the adoptive parents to be present - but our state does NOT.  We actually had to sign a power of attorney for a representative at S's orphanage to be there on our behalf.  

WE HAVE SOME BIG PRAYER REQUESTS NOW!

PLEASE keep these three requests in your prayers for us!

1. That our NOC arrives safely and promptly to the orphanage.

2. That our file and case arguments have been prepared thoroughly.

3. That our court registration goes smoothly and we are matched with a judge who has compassion for our child and international adoption.

I'll update again just as soon as we have been registered in court!  

800s/5s and MORE letters!

So much has happened since I last updated!  In my last post - we were waiting for our i800 approval. I made a phone call to our officer on a beautiful Friday morning as my family and I were about to board a ship for a quick weekend getaway (hey - perks of mom's job!)

She FINALLY told us, after waiting what felt like ages, that our i800 had been approved.  We were so stinkin' excited and it totally set the mood for our quick little family vacation.

On the following Tuesday, we received our "official" approval letter in the mail.  I immediately started calling the National Visa Center to see if we could get our case number that we needed to file our DS 260.  This is S's visa that she will need to enter the US.  On Wednesday, I was able to get our case number!  That means it had been entered in to the system fairly quickly.  I sent it to our agency, but she said we needed to wait on our "official" email from the National Visa Center before we could file our DS260.

The following Monday that email FINALLY came!

After all of the long waits we've had - we were SO excited to finally have some things rolling!  Our agency applied for S's DS260 the same day our NVC email came in.  

One week later (TODAY!) we got our 2nd amazingly awesome email - our Article 5 letter!

We are over the moon, but we know the hardest part is yet to come.

AS OF THIS MOMENT - WE ARE DONE WITH THE US.  We are DONE with anything that we can control. AS OF THIS MOMENT - WE ARE AT THE MERCY OF INDIA.

We are officially waiting on something called NOC, or No Objection Certificate.  This comes to us from CARA (India's governing body for adoptions).  It basically says that all around - no one has any objections to us adopting S and our case may go to court.  

Many see this as us being there or so close to bringing her home.  

In all actuality, if we prepare ourselves for the worse, it could be the complete opposite.  The wait for NOC can take, on average, anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.  We have close friends who waited MONTHS for this piece of paper.  Of course our prayer is to be on the shorter end of the scale, but we are also trying to prepare our hearts for a wait.  Our orphange has been amazing so far in getting us what we need; so we are praying that will continue to be the case and NOC comes quickly.  

After NOC, our case will be filed in S's local court system and we wait for a judge and a court date.  I can't even let my mind think this far out.  

ONE.STEP.AT.A.TIME

....or my heart gets too anxious and too heavy for our girl

We need our prayer warriors!

1. PLEASE pray with us our NOC comes quickly.  We know everything will happen in His time, but the human side of us does not take the waits lightly.

2. PLEASE pray with us that our case goes to a compassionate judge.  Once we are at court, our entire fate lies in the hands of whomever this man is.  Please, please, please pray he WANTS S to be in our family and that he has a heart for children and adoption.  

Thank you so much to everyone who has been by our side through this entire process.  Your kind words and prayers have all been felt!

One side story that is pretty amazing.  A little wink from God just when we needed it.

On Saturday, 10/1/16 - this little status popped up on my Facebook from one year ago.

I couldn't help but smile because I remember this exact conversation!  I remember wondering where in the world he got India from.  I remember thinking - we don't talk about India, we don't know anyone from there...where did he get this?!

God was placing India in our family before we even knew it.  A little over two months after this, John and I were sitting at Children of the World to discuss with them adoption.  We tell people all the time when they ask us, "Why India?" and we have no idea.  We both left that night knowing that was where our next child was.  We just knew.  

We are coming for you S!