Only lacking one thing

Saturday came, and I nervously picked up the phone to call Viviana’s house at precisely two o’clock. One of her house parents reprimanded me once in the past for calling at the wrong time. I hated to do anything to jeopardize her trust in me. I wanted and needed her support more than anything. However, Juan David assured me I already had their permission.

 I asked for Viviana, and they passed the phone right to her.

“Tía!” She squealed when she heard my voice, especially on a Saturday. I asked about Juan David, and she eagerly passed the phone to him. He said hello and almost immediately passed the phone to Julian.

“When are you coming for my brother and sister?” Wow. What could I say?

“The process is complicated, but we’re trying to keep things moving as quickly as we can.” I don’t remember anything else we might have said to each other that day, but I’ll never forget hearing his voice for the first time.

His voice sounded similar to Juan David’s voice, but definitely older. We held a short conversation before he passed the phone back to Juan David. He and Viviana passed the phone back and forth a few times before they needed to go. I loved connecting with them together to witness more of their brother-sister relationship.

It couldn’t be much longer now. Our relationship felt more real every day. God allowed too many things to progress. I could not even fathom Him tearing it apart. He must have allowed me to grow even closer to them for a reason.

Now September, things got tense as our whole life hung in the air. Mike saved his vacation for the entire year in order to take as much time as possible to stay in Colombia with me to complete the adoption. His year started over again in late September, meaning he’d lose the vacation he never used from the previous year.

I relayed the situation to my agency’s director. “Is there any way you can request for us to appeal in person specifically within the next two weeks due to our job circumstances?”

“Yes, of course. I will make the request right away. Just be ready.”

Finally! We could possibly arrive in Colombia within another week or two! Sadly, all the adoption rules changed significantly since the last family’s successful appeal. They appealed, won, and stayed to complete the adoption. We would have to travel once to appeal, return home to await approval, complete more paperwork and finally travel again, months later, to complete the actual adoption.

I informed my substitute of every little change, which I’m sure drove her crazy. As much as I wanted to appear as a responsible teacher, I couldn’t keep it up. My teammates finally told me I couldn’t keep trying to over plan. We all teach the same things, anyway, so they offered to pass on their own lesson plans to my substitute in my absence.

So many details to think about! We contacted David’s teachers to explain the possibility of him traveling soon. We also made sure a room still remained available at the adoption hotel in Colombia. I even started pack! We just needed an actual date to purchase the airline tickets. 

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