Home Study is DONE!

We had our last home study visit on Saturday! We spent 2.5 hours with the Social Worker, answering questions, listening to his "rough draft" of our lives. It was quite entertaining at times! Well, when he got done, he let us know that he's working on the final draft this week and will get it to us as soon as he's done. He also said that he is recommending us for approval!!! I was so relieved and excited that I broke down and cried after he left. God has carried us this far, I know He's going to carry us the rest of the way.

 

Now, it's time to be patient and find our little one!

 

Have a blessed day!

~Helen

The paper work is all turned in!

Good morning friends! Today our social worker will receive the last bit of our paperwork for our home study in the form of 2 adoptive parent reference letters. For some reason the postal service lost one and so we had to ask them to write another one and in the meantime, we had asked one other person to fill one out and we got it yesterday, too. What a blessing these people have been to us to write these letters for us! Thank you, from the deepest parts of my soul, thank you.

 

I'll also share with you, again, how God will tell us we're ok. So I've been having some doubts while waiting on these letters to come back that maybe we're not doing the right thing because it's taking so long to get them. Maybe this wasn't God's will, but mine that we're pursuing. Just my thoughts. When it gets really bad like this I have to stop and say, "Ok, God, I want this, but what I want more is for my desire to be alined with YOUR will and not my own." This is when He speaks to me. He says, "My child, chillax! I've got this one!" lol Well, on this very Monday morning, I was going through this and I went home for lunch and I checked the mailbox and one of the refernece letters was in there. It was the only thing in the mailbox. It was with that one letter in the mailbox that I was reminded that I didn't start this journey, but rather God started this journey for us. Now, a little twist to the story...when we got home from work on Monday, there was a lot of mail in our box. There isn't an explination as to why this particular letter was there at lunchtime and none of the other mail had been delivered yet, except to say that God knew what I needed and in His infinite wisdom, He reassured me that I am living in His will. You could come up with a logical conslusion as to why that letter showed up in our mailbox when it did, but regardless, I needed Him to tell us we're ok.

 

 Now, it's more waiting. I can't belive this process only started 5 months ago! It seems like it's been a year already! Please continue to pray for us and if you hear of anyone looking for an adoptive family, think of us. Our information is on the sidebar and you can feel free to pass it along.

 

Have a blessed day!

 

~Helen

Nothing and Everything

I titled this post "nothing" because I sometimes just don't know what to say! I wanted this blog to be about our journey, but it's turning out that I only want to post when something positive has happened regarding this adoption process we're going through. I want to apologize for that. If we're writing this blog to help someone else while they're enduring the same kind of situation we are, then we have to be honest and tell it like it really is and not try to be so cheerful and upbeat all the time! Well, I must say that most of the time I am tha way, because it's who I want to be, but there are times when I get frustrated. I think the process takes too long. I don't know why I can't just have a baby. I don't understand why someone else who isn't the kind of parent I think they should be can have one but we can't. Why would someone just give me their baby. Why can't it just happen, NOW. Why aren't people spreading our information around so someone who is interested in giving a baby up for adoption will have it and contact us. Does that unhappy pregnant teenage girl walking down the road want to share her baby with me and how can I meet her to find out. I just want to cry till I get what I want. Am I not good enough. What am I being punished for. Why do I need to learn patience.

 

Seriously, all these things have run through my mind and some of them still do from time to time. But do you want to know what keeps me going and keeps me "sane" during this season of my life? A promise from God. He said He has a plan for us and that He would never leave us. It may not seem like much to those who don't understand how God works (as if any of us REALLY know) but He is carrying my burden, not me. I can go about fulfilling my promise to Him because He is carrying the weight of my heart on His shoulders.

 

By now I've changed the title of this post to "nothing and everything" because though I don't know what to say somtimes, He gives me the words that are needed. He is everything. Jesus is everything. It's not my plan, but His. He gave me this desire and He will fulfill that desire in His time and through His plan. I have nothing to worry about because we're all in His hands.

 

Have a blessed day.

~Helen

Good News

We received a little bit of good news this week! Part of our paperwork has already been processed and we're getting closer to being approved! We still have a little bit of paperwork to fill out and get to our social worker, but the stuff that usually takes a longer time has already been processed and cleared! That is such an awesome thing! We'll post more as soon as we know more!

Please remember to keep us in your prayers, that God will continue to keep His hands on us and that we will continue to walk in His will.

Have a blessed day!

~Chris & Helen

The Home Study has begun!

Well...our Home Study has begun! Yeah! We met with the social worker yesterday at our home and began filling out the encessary paperwork. He left us with a mountain more paper work as "home work" (I thought I was out of school! lol) We began filling out the "home work" and are a little over half way done already!

 

The meeting was rather nice. We visited with the social worker about the process he will be going through and we've decided that it's rather neat that someone is kind of writing our "biography". This will take a few weeks to process, so we will be patiently waiting. Once he is done with his writing, we will get together and review it and then he will begin the process of presenting it to the judge to gain approval for us to adopt. Having this part already done will make it easier and quicker for the adoption to be finalized when we do have our little one.

 

Now, today, we're getting new carpet! What a wonderful, busy, this week will be!

 

Thank you all for your love, encouragement and prayers! They mean so much to us!

Have a blessed day!

 

~Chris & Helen

Thank you and an update

We'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for your love & prayers regarding our decision to adopt. We would also like to thank those of you who have donated financially to our adoption fund. Every little bit helps and we're so thankful that God laid it on your heart to help!

 

We've got a big year ahead of us! Many wonderful changes and blessings are in store for our family and we're so excited to see what the Lord will be doing in our lives this year! The first thing on our agenda is our home study! It will be taking place next week, finally! We're so excited about this because after it is completed we can get our "profiles" out to more places and also apply for grants. Please pray for us during the next week so that we're prepared for this home study and that we're calm and peaceful with our visit with the social worker. One thing I know for sure...God is in control and He has the perfect plan for our lives!

 

We hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior and spending time with family & friends. May the Lord bless you and your family during the upcoming New Year!

 

Love,

Chris & Helen

A time to wait

As of today, we're kind of in a waiting mode. We've secured the lawyer we want to work with and next is the home study, which is in a pre-scheduled status. We're on the list of a really great guy, but there are a couple people in front of us, so we're hoping that we can have the home study completed by the end of February. If a baby becomes available to us between now and then, though, we'll have the opportunity to get moved to the top of his list. Which is all good by me, because our landlord is installing new carpet in our house sometime this month! Woo Hoo! So excited about this!

 

Please continue to pray for our journey, especially for patience and allowing God to work through us daily as we do all the little things required to bring a new little on into our lives through adoption. Also, if you know of anyone who is wishing to find a great home for their baby through adoption, please give them our lawyers or our information (see "Birth Mother" tab at the top of the blog). As I've said before, any lead is a good lead, whether it results in us having our dream come true or if it results in God working through us to help someone else. It's all for His glory and all in His timing.

 

Have a blessed day!

~Chris & Helen