God's Perfect Timing...

Giant huge PRAISES today!!!  And the story...

Backing way up.  During the paperwork process of our adoptions, our agency collects pre-payment for our post placement social worker visits and reports that are required by China.  As an extra incentive to actally follow through with the reports, they also collect a deposit.  You can have your deposit refunded back to you IF you complete the post placement reports on time.

Fast forward a little.  Knowing that July would we a wildly busy month, I contacted our social worker (love her to pieces) in advance so we could schedule our visit early in the month.  In fact, she came on July 1st!  I had all our requred photos and pre-visit paperwork ready to go.  Six children lined up to be interviewed.  Enjoyed a LONG chat with N. (have I mentioned that we love her?)  DONE!!!

Now there was a wee bit of confusion when the actual report was completed.  I think our agency's policy is now that the social worker is supposed to mail us the report, and then we send it to our agency.  However, policies change, and N. and I both got a little muddled.  So our social worker sent the report directly to our agency and just sent us a copy of the report.  I intended to call to just check to make sure they received it...BUT...Christopher went to Ireland...I had oral surgery...OH!  and then Christopher was diagnosised with prostate cancer...SOOOOOOOOOOO...I forgot.

September rolls around.  Kids go back to school.  I begin to emerge from the fog of summer.  Then, since we hadn't receive our refund check yet, I called just to make sure the report was received.  Wonderful news!  They had it, and our refund check for a little more than half our original deposit should be out in the mail in a week or two.

Okay, so now fast forward to November, like around Thanksgiving.  Still no check.  I called back again.  "Uhm...refund check?"  Well the original check was mailed out back in September!  However, we never got it.  I mean I've been religiously checking the mail for that check.  We did NOT ever receive it!  So the sweet person at AWAA let me know that they would place a "Stop Pay" on the original and get a new check mailed out to us ASAP.  Woo-hoo!  She even double checked to make sure they had the correct address for us, just in case that was the problem. 

SOOOOOOOOOOO...we've been waiting...almost three weeks we've been waiting...again...NO CHECK!?!?!

Each day, I would tell myself that if it wasn't in the mailbox, I'd call. 

Then, I'd decide to give it one more day. 

NUTTIN'

Now remember our November?  We are just now beginning to receive all the medical bills.  Plus, Christopher wasn't able to work for most of the moth.  Finacially, that hurts.  Now here it is December.  Christmas time.  Lots of extra parties, presents, expectations, and expenses.  Truthfully, it's been really tight around here.  Scary some days.  I've cried tears in prayer to God wondering how we'd pay bills and put food on the table, much less have presents for my kids for Christmas.

He is so good to us!  So faithful!  We're doing okay.  But still, we were really hoping that check would come to help with Christmas.

Today, guess what I found in our mailbox?

THE REFUND CHECK!!!

Oh, but don't think for a minute that the story ends here!

See, it was in our mailbox.  But it was also totally opened.  Like someone had taken a letter opener to the envelope.  Then I looked at our address...IT WAS WRONG!!!  The envelope was addressed to our old home, but we moved over four years ago.  Now that's another weird, only God kinda story because we actually bought/sold/swapped houses with the previous owner of our current home (HUGE blessing!).  Finding the check in our mailbox means that sweet lady must have opened it and then driven over to drop it off for us!

Okay so now I had to call AWAA for two reasons -

1. So our next check gets mailed to the correct address since it is now time to complete our next post placement report (almost one year home!)

2. I really want to receive my annual AWAA calendar!  Sometimes my kiddos or other friends kiddos photos make it into the calendar.  Love seeing it at my desk every day and knowing that each smiling face represents a former orphan who is now home with their forever family!

So I call.  Try explaining this strange story.  Fortunately the sweet lady on the phone was able to follow the insanity.  She checked out address in their computer system, the one that is used for ALL communication with us.  Uhm...the computer address is correct!?!?!  So she is just as baffled as I am.  Her best guess is that maybe someone in the finace department, who has been printing up our checks, has been using this old address from some really old paperwork.  ?????

You know what explanation I like today?

God!

Yep, just God.  See he knew that if we got that first check back in September, I would have already spent it.  Trust me!  We had needs back in September.  But now?  Well, now we really NEEDED this little bit extra!  And, as always, I still am learning to trust Him and His perfect timing.