My meeting today with DPC

Hi all...My meeting today went well, good...ok. . It was very official like. Difficult actually. Both Liana and Sylvia came though...which was nice. They are the same two ladies who met with me when I saw Nicolae and Cristian in Januray. I was very glad it wasn't just Liana.
I like my interpreter. She is young and very nice.
We met for 2 1/2 hrs. today. I am exhausted mentally.

Here is some specifics:

First they started with how the procedure works. Up to 2 months for this process, then a court date, then the boys for 3 months and possibly longer, then lots of paperwork, then another court date, then more paperwork...Then the judges decision...who knows how long this will take? They did all they could to make it sound difficult, hard and crappy. Of course they shared about the whole adoption expereince, the government in Romania, everything...expessed in the worst case scenario possible. It was hard.

I just kept praying to myself that God is in control and that I can only take each day as He gives it to me. They went on with "It could take three years....blah, blah, blah,..and I just listened. They asked what I would do etc. I simply shared that I hope it doesn't take that long and that I would have to make that decision when the time comes.


They asked me about my family, why I wanted to adopt, why didn't I have children the regular way? I did my best to explain. The whole I am not married. I have already gone through menopause...etc. Medically, I am not able to have children etc.
They asked why I chose to come to Romania in the first place. Why did I choose here to adopt? I am wondering that myself.:D
It is more like Romania chose me.


Then they asked about my religion. They were afraid since the boys are Orthodox that they wouldn't be accepted in my "church community". They even asked if I had planned to raise them in an Orthodox church because they have both been baptized Orthodox. "Ah no...no I don't ." I didn't answer them like this, but it was certainly what I was thinking. The problem is that here in Romania being Orthodox is who you are....whether you really have a relationship with God or not.

Of course I am not planning to raise the boys in an Orthodox church, so it took a while to work through this. However, once they realized that being a Christian wasn't about what church you belonged to, but rather your relationship with God, they seemed better. When they also realized that my whole family or every friend I have, didn't attend my same church (Still focused on either you are Orthodox or you are not) and that we still all get along well...they were very understanding then.It was a tough issue for sure.
For them...
It would be like a Protestant marrying into an Orthodox family. Not something that is easily accepted. So it was a long conversation for them to figure out the Nicolae and Cristian wouldn't be "outsted" because of "their religion".

We also talked about my job as a teacher and if would I be willing to give it up...depending on how looooong things took. I tell you they made it hard from the very start of the meeting.

I know you all know this... Nothing about this adoption has been easy and I can only take one day at a time. Bigger chunks are too overwhelming. I will know whether or not I actually adopt Nicoale and Cristian when it happens.

Anyway, we moved on and things lightened up a bit. I just kept saying "breath prayers" throughout the whole meeting. "God give me the words" "God give me the strength". etc.

Then they had me draw some pictures. First, I had to draw a tree. Then a picture of a person.I drew a girl. Then another person, but the opposite sex of the person I drew before. So, I drew a boy. I drew lots of details. I learned from Darci, our psychologist at school, that the more details you drew the better. It was a sign of intelligence. I did my best to be "intelligent".
Actually, they really liked my pictures and commented on the details of them. Thanks Darci.

After 2 1/2 hrs. of answering questions and things, the meeting was finally over. After the meeting was over, they reminded me that these meetings are a chance for them to get to know me better and that I don't need to worry. They also shared again how impressed they were over our meeting last time with the boys. It is a process and they are wanting it to work out too. It is still hard though. It is hard not to feel judged when you know they are the ones who ultimately say yes or no.
Anyway, if I had to give today's meeting a grade, I guess I'd give it a B. I am glad the first meeting is over. Hopefully, we won't have to have a total of 6 of them. We shall see.

We meet again next Tuesday at 2:30 so feel free to start praying now.

Thanks again for all of you have been praying throughout this whole adventure. It has certainly been a long haul.

Love,
Debbie