Crazy Week

Last Thursday I had shoulder surgery- torn rotator cuff- and I scheduled it only AFTER I consulted the surgeon informing him that on Friday our entire family was scheduled to go to Dept. of Homeland Security and be finger printed. He informed me this would be no problem and I told him if there was going to be ANY issue that I should schedule it for this week. Again, no issues.

It is awesome that God has allowed people to be smart enough to create all these different medical devices that allow repairing a shoulder that was pretty up with just 4 little holes and I came home the same day; though I was pretty beat.

We went, on Friday morning, to Tukwila, about an hour and a half drive from here, and took all our paperwork in. It's like the airport except they don't really seem to be protecting anything. I don't think there are a bunch of people who are going to try to hijack that building, but maybe I am naive.

We arrived early- in true Weinberg form- and then got our numbers. They called me up and took one look at my arm in a sling and decided that it would be too risky- for them- to finger print me. Humm. I told them the story about the surgeon and they told me that I would have to get a note from the doctor before they could proceed. I knew he had surgeries scheduled for Fridays but I couldn't not get these done if there was any possible way on my end. I got the doctor to write a note and he faxed it in. Then the man in charge told me that it didn't matter if I had a note of not, they were going to make the decision whether or not they were going to finger print me. Humm, why did I trouble the doctor to do that??

We arrived at 11:30 and finally left, all finger printed, at 1:30. Kind of nuts.

Then we had all our paperwork and now we have to get it in the mail. Next day here, same day processing there, fax this thing to them and emails burning up the airways. Will we actually get this all completed in time? Only God knows the answer to that question. It will literally comes down to the last day or 2 I'm sure, but God has this all planned out and if "Vince" is supposed to be part of our family, more than just in our hearts, then it will all get to the right people in time. Pretty crazy.

On Monday we have to go to Olympia and get a bunch of paperwork notarized, certified and authenticated. I had to next day my birth cert. to NJ, since that is where I was born, in order for them to authenticate the paper they sent me. Humm? You send it to me and then I send it back to you so you can make sure it is right. That seems a bit odd, but we are trying to play be the rules and get through the "game" as fast as we can.

Anyway, it seems as if adopting an international child who is about to age out is about as miraculous as conception. We have 3 kids to prove that God can do miracles, so it's easy for Him to do another.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement along the way. I'll keep you posted as we go along. BTW, I am supposed to be in a sling for at least 4 weeks and then I get to do some very light resistance exercises. I think I am going to be gimped up for quite a while, but this is all part of His plan so I had better just enjoy the process.