Big Step

This whole journey has been a learning process for me. Not only am I becoming very familiar with the paperwork and red tape associated with international adoption but I am learning in small ways more about God and what it looks like to trust Him daily.

We turned in a huge part of our home-study the other night. The information on this particular paper has been prayed over and discussed at length. Just turning it in was huge step of surrender for me. The paperwork I am speaking of is a special needs chart required by India concerning a waiting child adoption. The two page paper consists of a list of needs with spaces where we have to indicate which needs we feel our family can accept. Talk about heart-wrenching. Just the thought of saying no to needs makes me think of some child in India who will remain orphaned. Shew. Thankfully I have a rational half...my handsome hubby who sat down with me and helped me talk and pray through the separate needs. In the end there were some needs we had to say no to, especially considering the rural area in which we live and the resources at our disposal. Even now as I write this my heart feels heavy and every time I think of that chart I have to offer up a prayer of surrender to the Lord. In the end I know that nothing will stand in the way of what God desires for our family. This was a huge step for us and gets us even closer to bringing our daughter home.

Our small family continues to covet your prayers because behind the piles of paperwork and months of waiting there is a little girl somewhere in India who is without a family. My heart yearns for the day when I can hold her and tell her the story of how she came to us and how our great God wove this family together. There are days this mother's heart aches but praise God that he is using this period to refine my faith and  hopefully to show others the amazing love and faithfulness of a personal God. We are one more step closer to meeting our precious daughter.

Movin' Right Along

I am SO thrilled and relieved to say that we have finished the final visit of our home study. This past Monday afternoon our social worker came to our house to complete the home visit, which is basically a home inspection to show that our place is suitable for a child. Honestly this visit has had me incredibly stressed out. I knew our social worker was not coming in to see how clean my home was but I couldn't help from cleaning the house from top to bottom. It turns out that the visit was not even close to as thorough as I expected. It didn't hurt that our social worker is very laid back and continues to make us feel at ease every time we see him.

The home inspection just consisted of our social worker checking to make sure things were childproof, that we have working smoke detectors, a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher etc. He also wanted to check out the rooms of our house to make sure we had space for another child. We also sat down and answered a number of questions and went over what paperwork we have left to complete. Our worker was encouraging when he commented on how quickly we have been able to put together our paperwork. However in my mind this paperwork has seemed like a never ending process.

Now that the home visit is over and done with we only have a few more pieces of paperwork to turn in. By the end of this week we should only have two more small requirements to meet. I'm hoping and praying that we can have our paperwork complete by the end of June or beginning of July. Our social worker already told us that he is beginning to write out our home study so once those final pieces are in place we should be golden!!

Here is a short breakdown of where we go from here:
1.  Social worker writes 14 page home study.
2. The home study is then sent to AWAA to review. Once it is approved our social worker will then get the paper notarized.
3. Once the homestudy is notarized we will get it back along with numerous copies.
4.  Jon and I will then begin USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) paperwork and fingerprinting. All that paperwork is crucial because it will allow us to bring our daughter into the United States. Once the paperwork is filled out and sent in the review process takes 1.5-2.5 months.
5. During the wait for USCIS approval we will be compiling everything needed for our dossier.

Shew. Any questions?!?

Short Update

Friends and Family,

God continues to bless us far beyond anything we deserve and we are incredibly grateful. We are just past the 10% mark for our fundraising and for us that is a HUGE deal. Aside from money that Jon and I have poured into bringing our sweet daughter home, in a little less than 3 months we have raised over $4,000. Praise God!! This doesn't even count local fundraisers we hope to push in the coming months and adoption grants we can apply for once our home-study is complete.

As far as the home-study goes we are very close to completion. We have covered most of the costs associated with that portion of our journey. In the next month or two, once our home-study is written and completed, we will then have to submit a USCIS application and get our fingerprints taken. That process will cost close to $900. Yikes. Then once our dossier is complete we have over $6,000 we will need to pay to our agency for numerous expenses, including an international program fee, and second program fee. We have some money funneled away for those expenses but we don't have the full amount so I'm planning on working extra shifts in addition to praying for God's provision. He has yet to withhold anything we need so we are trusting His continued faithfulness. It's funny. I know we have some big expenses coming but God has proved himself so much in only a matter of months I can hardly find reason to doubt his love and care for our daughter as well as for our small family. Keep those prayers coming. Not every moment is filled with faith, trust and complete reliance on the Lord but we desire to honor Him through this whole process. He is growing us and I believe even now preparing us for our daughter.

Our final required meeting with our social worker takes place on Monday. Woohoo! He will come to our house for our home visit (home inspection). I'll have more to share once that takes place. Until then...you will find me frantically cleaning. ;-) More updates to come soon!