It Is Finished

...our homestudy that is. I have in my hand a finalized, notarized homestudy. It's beautiful!!

Haha, man it feels good to have this part of the process complete. Things have kind of been in a holding pattern for a while and now all of the sudden it is moving at lightning speed. Now that our homestudy is complete I need to fill out the I-800a form which is basically a form to determine that we are suitable to adopt a child from a Hague country. While I await approval from United States Immigration I will finish up our dossier which is already close to completion.

We now await the news from America World that we are officially registered in India. At that point we will actually be waiting on a match. I don't even want to say this for fear of jinxing the whole process but...we should be registered in India by next week. That means that India and our organization will be looking through the waiting children list for a child that matches our homestudy specifications.Although the wait for our child has been in my heart for years we are finally so close to that part of our journey. If we get word this week you can bet I will be posting an update. In the meantime I will be diligently working on our immigration paperwork, finishing up an assigned book on adoption and searching out adoption grants. We are one gigantic step closer to our little girl.

Pearl

Let me start this post by saying that I have been blessed with the world's greatest in-laws. I never really understood the in-law jokes you hear on tv and certainly have never joined in when friends speak of horror stories involving their spouse's parents. I am blessed. Not only was I welcomed into a family made up mostly of men (crazy red-heads to be exact) but my mother-in-law has welcomed me as her daughter. I do think she may have been a bit desperate for another female to keep her company.

Well, when Jon and I announced to our parents that we were adopting we knew they would be supportive but were surprised when Jon's mom, Laura, offered up a very sweet gift. Laura is a teacher and an author who loves the Lord. She recently published a book and has generously decided to give the entire proceeds to our adoption. There really are no words.

Here is a short description of the book Laura began to write years ago before Jon and I ever announced our plans.

This is a book about adoption...

and hope.

It's entitled Pearl.

The loss of a son...the memory of a daughter. A search for peace that spans two continents. Mei, a Chinese mother, loses her son in a tragic earthquake, awakening the memory of the daughter she relinquished to adoption years before. China’s One Child Policy robbed her of the infant she called Pearl, and Mei is haunted by loss. The couple learns to survive, finally emigrating to America where Mei sees little Chinese girls everywhere. Could that one be Pearl? Mei's search leads her to a peace she never knew existed. Will she find Pearl? And can she let her go?

Purchase a Copy of Pearl Here

 

Getting Closer

There are times I feel like I am one step away from crazy! The waiting, the phone calls, the red tape, the paperwork...AHHH!! I am struggling to keep my emotions in check.

It seems as if we have been in a holding pattern for quite a while with me saying the same thing over and over again, "waiting for the homestudy to be written." Well now it has been written and Jon and I have finally laid eyes on the 14 page document. We have read and re-read it proofing as we went. The final edits have been sent to our social worker but we are now waiting on a call from our family coordinator to specify some wording in the homestudy. If all goes well our social worker will hopefully be able to email our homestudy to our family coordinator today. Once AWAA's main office receives the homestudy they will take a couple of days to review it and approve it. There is a chance they will ask our social worker to change or add a few things which shouldn't lengthen the process too much. I'm praying that by next week we will have a finalized and approved homestudy. I know that we have made a lot of progress over the past couple of months but right now at this moment progress seems painfully slow. I am SO incredibly ready for the homestudy portion of this journey to be over and done with. Deep breath...

For those following our journey please continue to pray:
- Pray for patience, especially for me. There are moments I feel completely overwhelmed and it has been easy to allow these emotions to affect me throughout the day. I desire for the Lord to grow me through this process but I need to be willing to surrender to His perfect timing.

- Pray for this section of our journey to end soon. Pray with me that by next week we will have a completed and finalized homestudy.