How is the adoption coming?

We have been hearing the same question a lot.  "How is the adoption coming?"  Depending on who asks, they are looking for certain answers.  Eventually everyone wants the same answer.  When will your kids be here?
Oh how I wish I had a simple, easy answer for that question.  There are a few tangible dates I can give you.  Things for you to keep in mind, pray about, etc.  July 26th is our next (and hopefully final) homestudy meeting.  We will update any paperwork that is outdated from previous meetings.  We will go over the house, finances, and personal notes again.  We will make sure we have dotted all our i-s and crossed all our t-s.  Thankfully we have some incredible adoption specialists at Bethany Christian Services to walk through this with us.
The next big date is our anniversary!  August 28th, we will be celebrating our second anniversary!  Ahhh!  Seriously, though God has taught us so much about each other and ourselves in the past 2 years.  We have grown together and walking through this process together has made us stronger.  The other really exciting thing about August 28th, is Colombia requires 2 years of marriage for their adoptions.  This year our anniversary falls on a Sunday, but the following week our homestudy will be considered complete.  Then off for approval.
Over the next few months, we will apply for grants, do fundraising (because every little bit helps), make payments, submit paperwork, and everything else we can possibly do to prepare.  Hopefully we will be matched in the fall.  This will tell us a little more about the children we know God has already chosen for our family...pictures, stories, medical diagnosis, etc.  I am so excited for that day!
We will then go through some more paperwork, be assigned travel and court dates, arrange travel, and GO TO COLOMBIA.  Our prayer is that this will happen in early 2017.  Since both of us work in food service, winter is the easiest time for us to be away from our jobs.

As we inch closer here are specific things you can pray about:
July 26th - homestudy meeting
Grant applications (I - Kerri - am writing many of these currently)
Finances - Our next payment due will be $5000.  We currently have about 65% of that put away.
Our children - despite not knowing who they are yet, I know God is working in them and us to write this part of our story.
Travel dates

Again, thank you for being a part of our support system.  Y'all are awesome.  We love you and can't imagine doing this without you.

Support system

Wow.  When we jumped in to this crazy adoption journey, I am not sure we had any idea just how far we were jumping.  Or what that would look like during the journey.  We have learned this is not a journey we have any desire to walk alone.
Here is a little glimpse into a few pieces of our support system.

They come in many different shapes and sizes.  They are family and friends.  They are customers who come into Hot Rods.  They are church family that we get to do life with.

I am incredibly thankful that God saw this moment.  He knew we would need people...we would need people to pray, people to encourage, people to support, people to give, people to listen, people to understand.  

He knew I would need someone to remind me to keep my health on track in the midst of stress.  He sent me a friend from a few years back who was also walking through her own adoption journey.

He knew we would need someone to come along side us and help guide our budget and finances.  He provided my boss, who has tons of knowledge about finances and lots of local resources.

He knew I would need people on the days when I felt like falling apart.  People to do life with in the joys and the pains.  So He sent my work family.  Both employees and customers.  They might not always understand the process but they will walk with me in it.

He knew Tyler would process very differently than I do.  Many days he needs his bio family more than I realize.  God has continued to strengthen their relationships.

He knew I would need people to pray big prayers, encourage on the hard days, and to celebrate with on the good days.  He sent my Point family...especially my amazing connection group.  They even send me things like this.

God knew that we would need each other.  He designed us so differently yet so intricately linked.  He has designed balance in our relationship and continually reminds us to lean on one another.  

God knew most importantly that we would need Him.  I can not imagine doing this crazy journey without God.  I am continually leaning on Him, trusting that He's got this.  In the moments when everything feels like its spiraling out of control, I have to trust that its all in His timing and His ways.

Thinking about adoption?  What is your support system? Who are you going to lean on?

Reading this? Thanks for being a part of our support system.  You may not realize it, but you are holding us up through this journey.