Life Update

Well, a lot has happened since the last time I blogged which is why it has been so long. We decided to move out of our previous rental in McDonough, and find a house in Locust Grove. We were feeling like we needed to be out of the city before committing to live in the house for the next several years. We were a bit hasty in finding our first house, but we knew more specifics about what we wanted this time. Once we do our home visit in June we don't want to change addresses again for awhile. Our new home is a really nice 4 bedroom in a county subdivision.

In adoption news we did our joint interview yesterday (we did separate interviews a few weeks ago). It was an easy interview, and we got to answer some fun questions. We told about how we met, and how Scott proposed. It was fun to relive those memories, especially from both of our viewpoints. We are trying to finish up things in our house, so it will be ready for our home visit in June. We got our physicals scheduled, and now we have to plan a time to get fingerprinted.

We hope to get all this wrapped up in June, and start on our dossier. We have our fingers crossed that we can finish that by the fall!

My birthday is tomorrow, and my parents got me (and Scott) an awesome new grill. We had dinner at the pool with my grandparents (and they got us some grill tools). We are all ready to have a summer cookout party! Tomorrow we are looking forward to going to dinner with our friends from college.  We also saw a mom and little baby deer in the backyard, and found a cool walking trail. I am already loving summer!

Currently...

I haven't posted in awhile just because life has become so busy. Our next step was originally our home visit, but we have decided to move to a different location before we do that. So today we get to go in for our individual interviews. I thought I would be really nervous about this part but I'm not. Just another confirmation that the Lord is guiding us.

I've been trying to complete all the paperwork for the homestudy, but we have a few tasks we still have to do like see our doctor, get our fingerprints done, etc. We need to make time to do it, but life has been crazy lately. My sister graduates from high school on Friday, so we are all gearing up for that. We also have Water Day and Field Day at school this week, so lots of fun going on.

We feel more and more confirmation about our decision to adopt. Our pastor gave a sermon on adoption yesterday, and I told Scott that it was a good thing we listened to the Lord's call back in October because that message was very convicting! It is hard to imagine all the orphans who are not receiving good care. It breaks my heart, and I hope we can continue to help the situation. I know that even if you are not personally called to adoption you can still lift up the children worldwide in your daily prayers, or possibly get involved with a Compassion child. We sponsor a little girl, but I'll save more details for a different post.

I'll try to post how the interviews go this afternoon. Scott has kindly agreed to let me go first. :) As always we appreciate your prayers.
Blessings,
Allyson

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.