A precision time table

I think mentioned here that Bobbi was ready to initiate a search for her birth family, and we started with just a simple post on facebook that we asked our friends, and particularly our Bulgarian friends through the Bulgarian school here where we live who have lots of Bulgarian friends in Bulgaria, to share the post, thinking that was an easy (and free) way to start.

As we suspected, nothing came of it, so we went to the next step which is to hire a private investigator that used to work with our Bulgarian adoption lawyer who has helped a number of other families that we know of also find their children's birth families.

We liked his policy that we don't pay until he finds something. Once he has a report to give, then the transaction happens, and following that, he'll deliver the information he has collected - photos, video, and responses to a variety of questions that he asked family members.

We have prayed for years that the timing of this would happen at just the right time. When we first contacted the investigator, no one had any idea the whole world would be shutting down in the very near future!! I was fully prepared for this to bring a delay in the whole process, but amazingly, he and his team were able to locate Bobbi's birth family, get the information they were seeking and get back to Sofia before things ground to a halt over there.

Just tonight we got the email saying the report is ready. We expect to have it within the next few days, depending on how quickly the payment processes.

Starting last week, our church has been live streaming the morning worship service. Last week there were about 100 people at church, meaning just over half of the congregation stayed home. It was during the Sunday School hour that the announcement came from our MN government about schools shutting down and recommending no gatherings over 50 people, followed quickly by the no more than 10 recommendation. So far MN has not yet ordered us to stay home, but *we've* been staying home because of the make up of our household! This morning our pastor adapted an article written by John Piper called "Don't Waste Your Cancer" and spoke with us about how to not waste our pandemic. The regular sermon following our sermon series in 1 Samuel will be available to us via pod cast tomorrow. ;) One driving point was that even this (perhaps even especially this) time is designed for our good, and that we will waste this time if we are not viewing it in light of God's goodness and his glory and the work that he is hoping to accomplish. With that as a backdrop, I am interested to see what develops with the timing of this new page in Bobbi's life as she, for the first time, is going to get to see someone who "looks like her."