Home Study began!

Today we had our first home study meeting with our adoption counselor. We had a chance to meet her in December, so it wasn't as nerve racking today. We had a great time talking to her, and went over our home study packet. It is a bit of paperwork, but not too bad. I feel like being a teacher (and coach) has prepared my to keep all the paperwork organized. The home study is a lot of reading and signing, but the real paperwork will begin with the dossier. Normally paperwork isn't very exciting, but right now I'm just happy to take the next step towards meeting our child. (We don't actually have a referral for a child, but he/she is always on our hearts and minds.) It doesn't hurt to be filling out the paperwork in Starbucks.

Tonight we're headed back to the Bethany office for a dinner with other adoptive families. We get to hear families speak on the waiting process, and we get two hours of adoption credit. We're excited to meet more people involved in the adoption community. What a great day!

Stuck

We had an opportunity to see a wonderful documentary last week entitled Stuck. Our friends, Joy and Gabe, asked us if we would be interested in seeing a documentary on adoption. "Of course" was our reaction. We had a great dinner at Eats first, and then went to see the film at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. It is a wonderful film that will make you tear up multiple times, but it also shows some of the harsh realities of the world of adoption and children that are institutionalized. It highlights 3 families that all ran into problems while completing their adoption process. I can't say that it was super encouraging, but it was very eye-opening. The film, Stuck, is.corresponding with a movement called Both Ends Burning. Please check out their website at www.bothendsburning.org. I think the movement is awesome because their end goal is to provide homes for the 18 million orphans in the world.

In our own personal news we will have our first home study interview on Tuesday, and we get to attend a dinner at Bethany for parents in the adoption process. I'm excited to hear other people's stories, and get to be part of the adoption community. Our interview will be at the Bethany offices as well. We don't have a date for the 'home inspection' part of the home study yet. We are excited to be moving forward!

Overwhelmed

I knew in following the Lord's call to adoption we would be blessed in ways that we could not anticipate. Last night I was overwhelmed with blessings from the Lord. I have coached a  team of wonderful cheerleaders for the last 3 years, and last night was my time to say goodbye to them. It was bittersweet because I hate to leave my girls, but I look forward to the next step in our lives. We had a wonderful banquet of chinese food, and a time for the girls to be awarded for their accomplishments this year. Then it was time for me to thank those who have done so much for me over the years. And then the awards ceremony was supposed to be over, hopefully with only a little crying because once I get going its hard to stop.

But I didn't know the wonderful surprise the girls had prepared for me...they raised a gift of $550 towards our adoption. I was completely overwhelmed. This gift touched me so deeply. Not only was it nice to be recognized for the last 3 years, but it was like the team was giving me their blessing to move into our next stage of life with adoption. I will always have the sweet memory of my precious team helping me raise money to bring our first child home. Thank you girls (and parents) for all that you have done for me. I love dearly and will miss seeing you daily next year. I know the Lord will continue to bestow his blessings on you as a team.

In other news we can start our home study process as early as next week! We just have to set up a time to start our first interview. I'm super excited!

We've applied!

We have taken our first official step, and completed our adoption contract. After lots of prayer we have decided to go with Bethany with their Colombia program. We have decided that we are open to adopting a child a bit older than preschool age, around early elementary age. There is also a possibility that we could adopt a child off the waiting list or a sibling group. We don't know where this journey will lead us, but we feel like this is the way that God is leading us. We are excited about pressing forward, and will be preparing for our home study in the next month. If anyone has any fundraising ideas for us please feel free to share! We have been saving my salary since the beginning of the year, so we have part of our funds raised, but we will start fundraising in earnest after our home study completed. Thanks for being part of our journey!

Speed Bump

Well we officially turned in our formal application with Bethany last Monday, March 25th. Tuesday we ran into a little speed bump. I knew these moments would come with the adventure of adoption, I just didn't anticipate them happening so quickly. I received a phone call from the international office in Michigan. She let us know that we had been approved on a state level, and things were looking good at the international level. Except...Colombia is no longer adopting out children under the age of 5. She asked if we were open to a 5 year old, but I knew that was a decision that I needed to make with Scott. I asked if there were any other countries that we would be eligible for and she said we would be a good fit for Ethiopia or Bulgaria. So time to do some more research.

I was frustrated because I could have been doing research on these countries during the time we were waiting to apply. We also thought about looking into domestic adoption of a hispanic child, or looking up options with different agencies. We are still in the process of choosing what is best for us, but we have decided pretty firmly on international adoption. We know that the Lord is working in our hearts to be open to the child that is right for us, but we want to be fully prepared for whichever option we decide. We are still praying are researching, but plan to make a decision this week. Easter weekend was a good time for reflection on the Lord's sacrifice, and how we can honor Him with the adoption process. As always we appreciate prayers for the next step of the process.