So I realized yesterday that it’s been a while since I’ve posted an adoption update and your responses yesterday confirmed that y’all want to hear what’s been going on! So, bear with me as I explain where in the process we are. ⠀
As of Tuesday, January 21st, we were officially home study approved! What does that mean? Well it means that our agency and our state have legally approved us to adopt a child!! It also means that we’ve paid half of our total adoption costs.
Our home study process involved creating a document of over 100 pages full of background checks, marriage profiles, parenting classes, etc. We worked closely with a social worker and once the paper portion was complete she visited our home and Graysons school and talked to friends and employers. She was amazing, but had to be really thorough. Being “approved” means that our life on paper matched our life in person – no surprise there! ⠀
Being home study approved also meant owing a significant amount to our agency. You guys! I’ve seen God show up in the smallest details of this adoption. Only He could’ve provided close to $15,000 for us from August to the end of December. In 4 months God provided every dime we needed!
Next steps? Now we wait! We wait for God to cross our paths with the right birth mother for our child. We wait and pray for her in this season. Would you join me in praying for this courageous mother? ⠀
We have a photo book that is being shown to expectant mothers who are making an adoption plan for their baby. There are criteria that the birth mother and us are matched on and that determines who sees our profile book. There is so much trust involved in this process and if you want to talk about how we chose our agency, I’d love to have coffee!
We also now have to raise $15,000 more through grants and other small fundraisers. We’re considering maybe a BBQ dinner this spring. Being home study approved means that we can apply for adoption grants. Truthfully, I’m not sure what all that entails yet, but it’s @dlharward’s domain, so I’m not going to worry about it!
I do know this, God has done everything in His right time in my life and in this adoption and my faith is secure in Him. Would you pray for us and with us as we enter this calm-before-the-storm? God has the right baby out there for us, and it could be tomorrow we get a phone call or it could be a year from now. There are so many more things I could say here, but I’ll save them for another post. For now, if you feel lead to donate, our gofundme is still active.
Thank you for walking this road with us friends!!
