A very long time ago I mentioned devoting Thursdays to updates on our adoption process. Evidently, I’ve not done so. As of yet, there’s nothing I can report.

The paperwork lingered on a desk in my room. For some reason I couldn’t complete it without a clear picture of how I wanted our family to evolve. After a lot of time and experiences with a variety of children coming on weekends while their foster families take a break, I think I know what could work for us.

So the paperwork got done and delivered to my adoption worker. She’s in the midst of completing a few other homestudies. I’m now at the bottom of her list.

Shortly after that conversation, I received a letter in the mail from the supervisor of the adoption department. It was a general mailout encouraging me not to lose hope as I go through the process. She also mentioned applications will be expedited for those seeking to adopt older and/or special needs children as well as sibling groups. Being open to all three categories, I should find myself rocketing through the adoption process. In stead we’re lumbering along as though time is of no consequence. Children wait in foster care. I wait to go through the motions (since adopting Raine & Athena I have not become a convicted felon but still background checks must be made again in every city I’ve lived in). My daughters wait for new siblings.

The girls and I have an idea of what we want. I’m doing what I can to get us there. Basically it boils down to waiting with grace.

Canada’s child welfare system is a cumbersome system that moves at snail’s pace. Others have lost heart and abandoned the lengthy and often frustrating process of adoption through children’s aid. Some choose not to attempt it despite a desire to parent through adoption. Here I am wading into the water and trying to convince others to come with me.

It may be futile. It may come to nothing in the end. After being approved we may not ever be matched with a child or children. But as long as children in my own country need to be adopted, I can’t turn away. So I’ll keep waiting with grace.