Soon, Princess, soon.

With everything falling into place, I knew our time must be near. Then, much to our dismay, we hit another road block, a pretty big one, actually. After reviewing our paperwork on the immigration level, they now expressed concern over issues in our psychological evaluation. They considered not approving us without documentation of how we professionally resolved those issues.

What? You mean, we got this far, down to our final piece of documentation, and it could all end here? You’re kidding me! Could my heart handle much more? Without this approval, we could not continue the process, thus losing our children.

 This pending issue actually traced all the way back to the very beginning. They wanted a written letter from the counselor we saw years ago, the counselor we couldn’t find. We went round and round with them to explain why we couldn’t provide such a letter. Finally, our agency convinced them our psychologist could provide the information they wanted.

 The psychologist wrote up an addendum to our first evaluation and sent it in. Still not pleased, the immigration officer brought up more unclear issues from the personality assessment over the phone with the psychologist-- the personality test that suggested tendencies our specific personality types might lead to, like drugs and alcohol. He finally convinced the officer we showed no signs of such behaviors.

By the grace of God, the immigration officer finally approved us. With this last approval, we could finally send our entire mound of paperwork to Colombia.

 “Thank you, Father. Satan may attack me and make me doubt, but You hold complete control. Forgive me for my unbelief.”

From that moment on, I clung to my favorite verse, one I claimed as the theme of our journey. “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished” (Luke 1:45).

Nine solid months passed since we met our children. “I’m coming, my darlings, as soon as I can!”

We still needed to wait for the written immigration approval to arrive. Once we could send everything to Colombia, it usually took about four to eight weeks before receiving their national approval, the referral for your child, and a travel date.

Time moved much more quickly now! I could almost see the end in sight! Nearing the end of April, we began to draw another school year to a close. What a surprise when the staff at my elementary school showered me with the blessing of a money tree to help cover our needs when our children came home.

A teacher who knew me well and shared my faith in Christ wrote out several Bible verses on faith and tied them all over the tree. Long after we used up the money, I kept the verses tied to the tree, my faith tree. It touched my heart deeply. 

I continued to call the orphanage every week, sometimes twice a week to each home, to talk to my children. Our bond grew stronger, and we felt more comfortable with one another every day. Viviana especially loved knowing I called them both.

"Will you call my brother tonight?" She asked me the same thing almost every time I called.

“Viviana, I haven’t been able to talk to Juan David for the last two weeks. Did he get a new phone number or move to a different house?”

“Hmmm. Let me ask.” She’d disappear for a minute or so, then she returned to the phone to read off some numbers to me.  After getting a new number from her on three different occasions, I finally regained contact with him. He’d moved into a different house within the orphanage, so the number changed. I made sure to let him know I still tried to call every single week. I wondered if he thought I forgot about him.

“I need to go now. I love you, sweetie.”

“Okay, Tía. I love you, too.” Her words brought joy to my heart.

I started to tell both kids I loved them before I hung up the phone. Juan David didn’t quite know how to respond to that yet, but Viviana told me she loved me in return. I could almost hear the smile in her voice every time she said it. I think the time I spent calling just her over those few weeks I couldn’t reach her brother actually helped me bond even more with her. I cherished every moment because I only got to talk to her. I didn’t cut our conversations short in order to have time to call her brother, too.

“When are you coming to see me, Tía?” She still didn't know about our plans to adopt her, but she constantly asked when I could visit.

 “Soon, Princess, soon,” I replied, hopeful my words held truth.