Homestudy: Take 1

Today was our first homestudy meeting.  I saw first because contrary to popular belief, those don't happen all at one time. I intended to write earlier this week regarding our upcoming homestudy but a few things prevented that.  #1 was getting ready for the homestudy.  I'm pretty sure our house is the cleanest it has been since we moved in.  It also now has child locks, appliance locks, outlet covers, and lots of other child-proofing type things.  This took a lot of time and work for a variety of people.  I am so glad that we are surrounded by people who love us and support us in this journey.  Reason #2 was I could not quite figure out how to put into words how I was feeling.  I was excited, nervous, anxious, stressed, happy...sometimes all at the same time.  I don't know how my husband survived the week...or the day for that matter.  I am so thankful for him and how God matched us.
Of course the day did not go as planned (welcome to the world of adoption, right?).  Last night, I went to clean out under our sink and found that we had a leak.  After locating the source I called our landlord.  He said he would be here sometime Monday or Tuesday.  He arrived 30 minutes before our caseworker.  Its been raining for 2 days straight so muddy footprints were all over my kitchen.  When our caseworker arrived, the landlord's son was laying on our kitchen floor, half in our cabinet...this was not at all how I imagined the day.
However, she was gracious and happy to meet everyone.  We went through lots of paperwork.  Some was finished already.  Some we worked through together.  Some she left for us to work on.  We walked through the house together.  We passed all our safety checks!  And to no surprise, I stressed out about this step way more than I needed to.  We set our next interview meeting for next week.
We also discussed countries.  We have said for quite some time that we were adopting from Ethiopia.  When we first got involved we were encouraged to consider South Africa because it shares so many qualities with Ethiopia.  We had discussed it and were open but we have still felt like Ethiopia was a much stronger option for us.  Today, we were asked to consider a country that was not even an option when we first began this process...Colombia.  It shares many similarities with Ethiopia as well.  Our agency is also getting a lot of referrals from Colombia right now and it may speed up our process.  It is so hard for me to think about a country outside of Africa because it has been the picture in my head for so long.  Again, we are asking God to make it abundantly clear if this is the direction we are to be heading.  Please pray along with us for this and our homestudy process as a whole.  At the end of the process we will have to declare a country.
We know God has been taking care of our children and weaving their story until it joins ours.  We are excited to see and be a part of what He is doing.

Envelopes on my dining room floor

We've been approved!  Our preliminary application for Ethiopia was approved and we are beyond excited.  Some pieces of this process seem incredibly overwhelming but in the past I have found that God delights in doing the impossible.

Because of this there are 150 envelopes on our dining room floor.

Some of you are wondering what this could possibly have to do with adoption, Ethiopia, or bringing our children home.  So allow me to explain.  Each of the envelopes has a number for 1-150.  We are asking you to partner with us by choosing an envelope.  You then place the corresponding amount of money in the envelope.  For example envelope 7=$7.  You can get an envelope by contacting me or Tyler, commenting here on the blog, or leaving a comment on facebook.

If all of the envelopes are returned it would cover all of our agency expenses and one third of our total fees.  So again we invite you to be a part of our village.  Help us take the next step in bringing our children home.

Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.  They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.  It is easier to pretend they are not real before you hold them in your arms.  But once you do, everything changes. -David Platt

Now what?

I have been sitting here for at least 30 minutes trying to decide what exactly to write here.  In the end I've decided to just be open and honest.

Yesterday afternoon after sharing coffee with a dear friend, I decided to stop at Bethany Christian Services local office.  Tyler and I have been pretty sure we want to use Bethany for our adoption, however I had a few things I needed clarified first.  What better way to do that than just stop in, right? (This is one of the things I love about Bethany having an office right here in Knoxville!)
I came into the office, waited a few minutes and then was able to sit down with the international adoption specialist.  She was warm and friendly and ready to answer my questions.

So here is what I learned:
1. We can start most of the process and paperwork now!  Woohoo...this means less time between right now and when our children will be here with us!
2. We need to fundraise immediately (more details coming soon on our first major plan)
3.  We may need to make some changes to our plan.

In reference to number 3 - God laid Ethiopia on our hearts a while ago.  It has sort of been the plan since Tyler and I first confirmed that this was the path we would go.  We had also felt that we did not want children any older than 7 solely because so much can happen developmentally before that point.  However, due to referrals coming out of Ethiopia, Bethany is not accepting new families to adopt from Ethiopia unless they are willing to adopt over the age of 7.
This initial statement rocked my world.  Now what?  What about this plan we had?  So our options are to choose a different country or extend our age range.  So I'm asking you to pray.  Let it be abundantly clear what our path should be.  Also pray as we prepare to take our next steps - formal application, homestudy, and fundraising!  We are excited about this journey and excited to have you continue to partner with us.

Spirit lead me where your trust is without borders...