Home Study Approval!!!

Hooray!! We found out today that our home study has been approved!!!! This is what we've been waiting for all summer, so we are super excited. Now we send it with out I800A form to the USCIS, and that begins our dossier process. I am just super excited that we can get moving again. But now we are also hitting the reality of fundraising. I am going to start looking at different options, but we have tentatively planned on selling tshirts, and coffee through companies that support individual adoptions. So be looking for more info on the blog in the following months...think Christmas gifts :). We also hope to get a matching grant, but all of this will take lots of applications. Time to get to work! I am going to try to put a graph on here to show how we're progressing, but I have to nail down some of our figures first. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for a speedy approval...it worked!

Fulfillment in the waiting...

Well we are still waiting for our psych eval results and Scott's clearance from Virginia Child Protection Services to complete our home study. Our case worker hopes that the home study will take about 2 weeks for approval, so for now we just wait. So I decided to put myself out there and find some babysitting jobs. I was debating with finding a part time job, but I didn't want to commit to a position and then have to leave in less than a year to travel to Colombia (hopefully!). Through some connections at church my name was given to a lady who needed someone to watch her 10 month old 2 days a week. Perfect! And she is going to drop him off at my house. It will be like a crash course on parenting. I am super excited about the job, and bringing in a little more money for the adoption. The Lord knew I needed some distraction during the wait and He provided. So now I get to make a little money and learn how to be a mommy (except for the sleep deprivation part). Thank you Lord for your provision!

Trust

Trust seems to be a common theme in my life right now. My church is doing a series on trust, trust comes up in prayer time, and discussions with friends. Obviously, adoption is a journey based on trust. For us the decision to adopt was easy. We knew we were being called to adopt (rather than become pregnant with) our first born. Then we had to select an agency, and Bethany was a natural fit. It is a nation-wide agency with lots of resources, but the office in Atlanta give a small agency atmosphere. Choosing Colombia was easy, staying with Colombia took some trust when they changed the age availability, but we have always felt a peace about adopting from Colombia (and we have looked at ALL our options). We are now "done" with our home study, but still waiting on last minute forms to be sent in so we can be approved. We have to be approved to really start our dossier, so for now I am learning to trust during the down time. 

During this time the only tangible thing I can do is pray, but that is hard for me because I want to pray for a specific child. I want to KNOW my baby, even if I can't be with her right now. (I say baby loosely say we may get an older child, but he or she will always be my baby.) I don't know if God is calling me to trust and wait for a child to be referred, or trust that he will provide for the medical needs of a child on the waiting list. No matter what child we get there are going to be difficult times. I thought at first that putting together the dossier would be the hardest part, but now I realize that becoming a parent is the hardest part. But also the most rewarding part. I know there are circumstances where more than one option could be 'right', and God gives us the intelligence to choose. I don't know if that is the situation here, or if God will absolutely reveal to me who our child is. So many babies on the waiting list need a home, it's hard not to choose all of them. If you have any divine wisdom for me then let's go get coffee. 

On another note I am reading the book The 7 Experiment, so I am excited to see how God will grow my life through that. I may just blog about some of those lessons from time to time.

Thank you for reading, and as always for praying. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

God Bless,

Allyson

Psychological Evaluation

Monday we went up to Roswell and had our psychological evaluation, mostly to make sure we're not crazy. It went very well, and the therapist (who adopted her two children internationally) had really great tips for integrating a child into our home. We also had to take a personality test that was 567 questions long. Super exhausting! The results should be back in two weeks. This is the last part of our home study, so then we can really start making progress on our dossier. We originally thought the eval would be part of the dossier, or we would have done it soon. Just another speed bump! The best part of the day was eating lunch at the Flying Biscuit...and I ate way too much. See how Scott has one plate, and I have three...that is not the norm.

In other adoption news...we adopted a new puppy about a week ago! Her name is Kona and she is the cutest thing ever. Coalie loves her, even though Kona likes to jump on her.

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!