Maybe another step closer to adoption...maybe not.

My brain exploded today.  For reals.  Scotty and I have been patiently waiting for an interview with the psychologist- the 2nd to last that we will hopefully need before we finish our adoption stuff.  We've been praying, thinking through questions he might ask and revisiting our own motives for adopting.  We felt prepared.  But, nothing could prepare us for this guy.  Right before we went into his office, our lawyer told us, "he might tell you that the packet of info that was sent from child and family services regarding their findings isn't complete.  He'll offer you two options- one, to send it back to the same office or two, to hire an independent psychologist who can speak with us and corroborate our story.  Pick the first option."  I wasn't sure what that meant, but it seemed important.  Let the games begin.  As soon as we sat down, mr. man began to read through the information he had on file about our case.  He reiterated what we already explained in our previous interviews with the other government office.  He went to great lengths to explain that when he presents our case before the judge, she's going to ask him, "but how do you KNOW that Mr. and Mrs. Miser are no longer in emotional turmoil over the son they lost?  But, how do you KNOW that Lisa is the transparent person she claims to be?  What EVIDENCE do you have that Scotty isn't a psychopath and actually loves his children?"  He explains in that fabulous condescending way that he believes us, OF COURSE! But, there just wasn't enough observation done by the other team to convince the judge.  He used analogies, he used metaphors.  He talked just so he could revel in the glory of his own speech.  He spoke to us like we had a cumulative IQ of 12.  And the worst part is that as much as he said it was important to him to make sure we were an acceptable set of people to adopt and be loving parents to these poor children, it was so obvious that his motive was only to convince us not to trust the work of child and family services and to go with someone independent instead.  I don't understand what benefit this was to him or why it was so important.  I'm waiting for a call from our lawyer to see if she has any idea.  He asked us very few questions, or the ones that he did ask, he gave us no opportunity to answer.  It was about an hour and 45 mins of this, but it felt like an eternity.  We nodded and smiled and tried to keep our eyes open and our anger under wraps.  I was practically shaking with fury by the time I left and couldn't believe that man had just wasted so much of our time and done no favors for the cause of adoption.  We consoled ourselves with a donut from our favorite donut store- a rare treat, but a necessary one today.  And, we pray that despite this man, our paperwork will continue to move forward.  We know that even his incompetence will not thwart God's plan.