Timing Talk----Off to Courts!!!

Happy New Year!! 2009----------The year Aidan will join our family!! I've been thinking I should have a "timing talk" with all of you. I mean "spring" is right around the corner and that's kind of when we've been saying we were hoping for Aidan ................I just kind of put off the "timing talk" because what could I say?.............I really have no answers, other than our hopes were probably set a little too high. So I came to a fork in the road and had to do some soul searching and really seeking out what God's answer was to me...............my fork was----should I go on a spring break trip with church?.........or not............will Aidan be home?..........or not............... there are lots of reasons why I'd go..............yet one HUGE reason not to go............So over the weekend I had some thoughts.
Our expectations were WAY to high. We've been casually saying we were hoping for Aidan to come home around April-----but seriously----we were expecting a miracle from God. If certain steps said they took 4-6 months to happen, we set our expectations that they would take 3 months to happen. What were we thinking??? ............Reality people..... reality..........who were we kidding. Aidan isn't gong to be home til this summer.......who knows maybe late summer..........
Yet I have to tell you even faced with all these facts ........I felt emotionless about the whole timing. I can only say that in a good way. ... I think it's a gift from God and His complete peace that it's in His timing.

THEN..............we received an email on Monday which said our paperwork was released from parquet on friday………can I hear an AMEN!!!……this is cool …this is crazy good……all I can say is wow....amazing.............!! After rationalizing that we had such unattainable plans, God shows us that he is so much bigger than us. I was reminded of the benediction we had at our wedding...........Eph. 3:20......"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

So what does this mean?..........we are a huge step closer..........but we still have the last third of the process to go……..which is made up of a bunch of little bureaucratic protocols…….best explained by the email below….
Congratulations Paul and Marisa! Great news!
Your adoption of Manuel has just been approved by Parquet. This week, we are preparing your dossier to enter the courts, in which we will create the civil court document and the Act of Adoption. This is when Manuel will legally become your child and take your family name of BRINKS.
After the courts, we will ask National Archives for an attestation signature for the Act of Adoption and then we will legalize the Haitian legal documents in the Department of Justice. These steps together – courts, attestation signature and legalization – should take approximately three months to complete.
After that, the papers will be sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MAE) for the final legalization. MAE usually takes about two to six weeks. Then, we can apply for Manuel’s passport in the Minister of Interior’s (MOI) office. You can monitor your progress through these steps in your monthly updates, as some of the stages will pass quickly and I may not always have the time to email you as we exit each step.
I will, however, be sure to email you when we apply for Manuel’s passport at MOI. Once again, congratulations on being one step closer to taking your angel home
Okay...........so plain English...........we see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you add up all the weeks or months things take we're looking at Mayish. Maybe June. Maybe end of April...........but maybe July. Actually there is no telling.................but I do know that it's huge to have gotten this news and it is good.........................crazy good.................makes me want to jump up and dance!