A Record Wait this Month for Referrals?

Wouldn't you know it!!

RQ is reporting this morning that the CCAA will likely set a new record this month---our month!---in how much time it will take them to get those referrals out. Here is an excerpt of her current analysis:

We now have one agency out there saying that they [CCAA] are still working on this batch, meaning they may not have been shipped last night.

That means that if they ship them tomorrow they would arrive at the agencies either Tuesday or Wednesday (not sure how that’s going to work with the holiday in there).

If they don’t get them out tomorrow then they won’t be back to work until Thursday [since CCAA takes a long New Year's break], meaning the soonest we will see them will be January 8th, which would be 39 days in between receiving them. A new record [emphasis mine].

Lyrics to "Merry Christmas" by Third Day

Many of us waiting parent are downloading this song from iTunes right about now. Band member Brad Avery's real-life wait to adopt a daughter from China inspired it.



There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are
But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you
Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow
But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you
Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
and we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
and prepare a place for us
so we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep,
I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart,
and I'll tell you from my heart
I wish you
Merry Christmas

A Peek Inside the CCAA!

As we wait and wait for our referral, here are some behind-the-scenes pictures of where that referral is coming from! (You can click on the photos to enlarge.)

Here is the "matching room" where our daughter is being matched with us!

Yes, those are pictures of baby orphans on the wall, all waiting to receive families to love them:

Here is the room where the dossiers are kept, each containing all the application materials from each prospective waiting-family:

The dossiers are color-coded. Each agency has their own color for their sets of dossiers.