Moments of Confirmation - Part One

Early on in this adoption process we ran into a roadblock. We had to order certified copies of our birth certificates and also our marriage license; these were needed for our homestudy and dossier. We ordered all three on a Monday in August. By Wednesday afternoon, Daryl's birth certificate and our marriage license (both from Hillsborough County, Florida) were in our hands. Then we received a call from the Clerk of Circuit Court in Merced County, California. They could not process Debbie's request without further proof and documentation. She printed off a form from the Internet and rushed to have it notarized and faxed over. 

On Thursday the office called her back to tell her that her birth certificate was no longer on file in the county and she would have to contact the state office in Sacramento. A few phone calls later she finally got to speak to a live person who told her that the wait time from the state office would be 6-8 weeks. We knew that would significantly push back our timeline for our adoption. After explaining that we were trying to do this to pursue an overseas adoption of a special needs child, the lady told Debbie she should call Merced County back and ask them to do a medical expedite. Upon calling Merced County back, the lady who answered told Debbie there was no such process. When she asked to talk to a supervisor, the supervisor sort of hemmed and hawed around about why it was so hard to get the birth certificate. Finally, Debbie just asked her straight out, "Is this because I'm adopted?" The lady on the other end of the phone exhaled slowly and said, "Yes." Apparently they aren't allowed to tell people that they are adopted in case they do not know. 

Once the adoption paperwork was filed in Florida and sent back to California, the state of California holds all altered records on file in Sacramento and does not resend them down to the appropriate county records office. The supervisor told Debbie she would request the medical expedite but that she had NEVER seen it work before. She asked us to give the office at least a week before calling back to check on the progress. 

The very next night while we were sitting in the YMCA gym watching the boys play basketball, Debbie's cell phone rang with a California number. The supervisor was on the phone. Her voice was full of disbelief. Debbie's birth certificate had been sent to them that day, less than 24 hours after the request. They were able to print it out, certify it and stick in the mail before the close of business that day!!!!!!

It was one of the first moments of confirmation that we were right where we needed to be in following God's call towards adoption. We were reminded again that we serve a mighty God who moves mountains when we act in faith: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) God has been so faithful in providing just what we need at just the right moment.