All morning in court (Part III)

We went back to court this morning for what would turn out to be the winning moment in our case. I was really frustrated with the way my Teen was treated this weekend as Bio Dad went through the motions of his visitation. As I stated before he chose to not see her on Friday because he was too tired. Saturday he picked her up and took her shopping and to see a movie; that was a pretty good day for the two of them. Then to end the trip in his typical fashion he picked her up on Sunday and took her to break fast and to a book store. They spent the remainder of the day watching TV in his hotel room with his father.

My Teen was acting a bit odd afterward but I guess she was just tired from sitting around all day. I asked her a few questions but she didn’t really want to talk so I dropped it. I didn’t want her to think I was putting her in the middle and trying to pry into her time with him. She’ll eventually tell me what she’s thinking about it all but I’ll have to wait till she’s ready.

With the weekend in mind I went to court this morning and pointed out all the facts he’s given that don’t add up correctly such as starting a new job in mid November but giving a pay check stub from his job from the end of November after not paying child support for a few more months. I asked the opinion of my attorney about making a deal with him to forgive his back child support in return for termination of his parental rights, which we agreed was acceptable given that he won’t be able to pay and has never regularly paid his support payments. He jumped on the deal right away and we spent most of the morning hashing out all the minor details. Then we tracked down the first available district judge and had the termination made official.

Yes, OFFICIAL!

We will have to go to court one more time to complete the adoption process but the termination is complete and that is a huge step in the right direction. As I understand from my attorney the adoption is mostly a formality at this point. The courts aren’t going to allow my Teen to go without a parent and we couldn’t complete the adoption as she was not there. I really didn’t think he would go for the deal and of course the attorney’s were not aware until our conversation that morning but it all worked out well and I praise God for his continued blessing on our family. Now I can rest a little easier at night knowing that we can stay together always, there is no threat of our family being torn apart by legal proceedings any longer.

This is the biggest bit of news I’ve had to share with my kids since Mindy passed, but this time we’ll all be crying for a different reason. I’m so thankful!! So very, very thankful!! For all those who where praying with us and for us, thank you for powerful prayers. Thank God for his hand of blessing on us!