Finding the Unexpected

It did snow in the wee hours of the morning. I woke up at 5:00 and watched it fall so quietly. There is something about being up early when the rest of the world is asleep. Schools were canceled last night so there was something so peaceful about it. But when I actually had to get up and go to work, the snow had already begun to turn to freezing rain. Tonight there is ice on the trees and shrubs and a different kind of beauty.
The other day I was looking for a medical form. I could not find it anywhere. I went through my desk at work, at home and even looked in the car. I finally started going through every file in my filing cabinet. I never did find it, but I came across a reimbursement check from an insurance company from November. Some how it had gotten filed in my credit union statements and was never cashed. I was so focused on finding the medical form that I never expected to find any thing else. In light of recent fee increases, it was a reminder that the Lord will provide my every need and that the provision comes in ways that I am not expecting. I think not only does the Lord provide financially in unexpected ways, but in relationships, job opportunities and even in new ideas and ways to do things. As I continue to wait for my FBI clearance, the Lord reminded me that the original requirement was a police clearance for all states lived in during the last 10 years. The other state I have lived in has been Massachusetts. So today I contacted the Mass office and found out that I should be able to get the clearance in approximately 7-14 days. So I have sent off for this. I am not sure if I will get the FBI clearance or the state clearance first, but at least I feel like there is hope that the clearance will come sooner rather than later. So once again, I find that when I am looking for something expected, the Lord delights me with the unexpected.

Flashback:
Once I found out that I was registered in Krasnoyarsk, I began waiting for a referral. Based on what I had seen for other families that usually occurred after a month. So March came and went, April came and went and no referral. May arrived but no referral. Instead what came was reaccreditation, a new word in my vocabulary that would make a permanent place in all my conversations when asked how the adoption was going. As of May 17, 2006 most agencies that had accreditation to operate in Russia, lost their accreditation. In the past it took approximately 3 months for new "accreditation" to take place. Once that happened, agencies were able to continue to work. Since the agencies did not have accreditation, then many of them were not able to give referrals or continue with court dates. At first most people felt that it would occur in the 3 month period. But there were major changes going on with Russia and how future adoptions would be carried out. So the 3 months came and went and no accreditation. The next rumor was that it would probably happen in October. So we all continued to pray and hope for it. In October 2006, the family coordinator I had left for personal reasons and I gained a new family coordinator. This was a major change. But instead of feeling like this was a bump in the road, I felt like it was a huge blessing. She continues to be my family coordinator and I could not begin to say what a wonderful job she does or the incredible support she has been through everything.