The Miracle NOC

Once again God has completely amazed us.

I took Emma on a date to the water park today with her free ticket she earned from reading.  I try to get some alone time with each of the kids every once in a while and I really enjoy getting to sit with them and look them in the eye and give them my undivided attention.  SO today there was no obsessive email checking, no phone right by my side, just Emma.  The waterpark was a good choice as my temp in my van said it was 108 degrees!!  WHOA!

I finally checked my phone when we were getting ready to leave and I saw I had a missed call from Holt and a voicemail.  And yes, I will admit that every time I see Holt calling my heart jumps in my throat and I flash back to that awful day in McDonald’s when I was excited to hear from them only to hear devastating news on the other end.  So I listen to the voicemail today and hear “Hi Angie, this is Dean from Holt, as you know the NOC was issued and I wanted to give you a little update on the courts and how we’re working on scheduling the court date with the BSSK lawyer.”  WHAT?!?!  We got that NOC in 10 days!  I turned and looked at Emma and said “I think we just got the approval for court which means we could be going to India in the next month!!”  I will always remember her response.  She told me that she hopes we will only have to take one trip and I told her if that happens that could decrease her chances of getting to go with us and she said “I just want my brother home.  I want to go to India so bad but if it would mean less expense and he would maybe get to come home sooner then I want that to be how it is.  It’s not about me.”  Insert jaw drop!  How proud am I of her?!?

So, we may be going to India in the next month or so!  The courts are in between judges right now so it may take 1-2 weeks to get the petition filed and it seems as though most people are getting 2-4 weeks notice for their court date.  Dean also said that the judge that just left was only making families take one trip but he was only in there for 2 weeks before they transferred him.  I have been praying for only one trip because of the expense and the fact that I think I’ll die if I have to meet him and then leave him there but at the same time the thought of getting to meet him soon makes me want two trips just so I can get there sooner.

Let me explain the trips thing.  It is not a law that we have to be in court.  They can have this whole process said and done before we ever travel there.  It’s just been in the last 6-8 months that judges have been requiring parents to be in on the court hearing.  We would go, stand there for five minutes, possibly not even say a word and then leave.  From what I’ve been told they just want you there to know you’re serious.  So, if we get an adoption friendly judge who looks at our file and says he doesn’t find it necessary for us to be there for court then we will only go when we bring him home.  The reason it will take longer is because after court they have to finish filing for his visa and apply for his passport and things like that.  From the approval in court he is officially ours and the rest takes 2-6 weeks to process and then he’s free to come home.  Another technical issue is that you are not allowed to be issued a tourist visa to India closer than 60 days apart.  Once we travel the first time, even if he and his paperwork were ready, we would technically not be allowed back in India for 60 days from when we left.  I have heard however that they will sometimes issue an exception for adoption circumstances.  So, I’m torn and don’t know if I want two trips or one because the thought of being there so soon for court is SO exciting but all the rest is complicated and EXPENSIVE!  God has a plan and has His hand in this so much that I know whatever the judge decides will be right for us.

Would you please stop and take a minute right now to praise God for His goodness to us.  Honestly we are so undeserving and He is so good!

AND how’s this for exciting, once the court approves us, I can share pictures!!  Who’s excited for that?!?!

Hope to see lots of you at the garage sale tomorrow!  Please pray for a big success as travel is sooner than we thought and whoa, just the plane ticket money could break the bank.  Possible two weeks notice on two overseas airline tickets….. YIKES!