God at Work - Even in a Portfolio

Throughout this entire adoption journey, from the international adoption to the current one, God has been ever-present (as He always is)! Here are some examples:

IDEAS
God provided portfolio ideas. The way the portfolio came together and turned out is nothing but God - He just used my fingers and my computer to make the finished product.

TIMING
The portfolio was completed in perfect timing.

PRINTING
Michael's closed at 9:00 the night we printed our portfolio. We needed to make it to Michael's to get the scrap book paper covers and the binding ribbon. We were still at Staples waiting on our portfolio copies at 8:45! While waiting for our copies, the Staples manager came over to talk to us. After hearing what we were doing, he told us we could come back later with a picture of our "new" family and have that picture enlarged (16x24) for free! We made it to Michael's with just enough time to run in, buy the materials, and leave before the doors were locked (Eric even had enough time to go in to BestBuy while I made our purchase).

PROVISIONS
Our portfolio could not be shown until $1,300 was submitted to our adoption agency (fee for showing the portfolio). Since last February, a lady at our church has been having Premier Jewelry Fundraisers for us. We have been stashing the money away in an adoption fund. Some of the funds were used for prior adoption fees (such as the home study earlier in the year). With several other parties held, additional money was raised for our adoption expenses. In addition, more of our puzzle pieces were purchased. These two fundraisers, plus another donation, covered the cost of our portfolio fee (received up until the week we had to turn in our money). We were going to turn in our portfolio fee on October 14th when we had our Macon meeting, but our case worker recommended that we mail it in, so we did just that the following week. Pictured is Eric with the check ready to be mailed! Since then, God has continued to provide for other adoption expenses. GOD IS OUR PROVIDER!

The Portfolio

What's a portfolio? In the adoption world, a portfolio is like a scrapbook. For our adoption agency, our portfolio included the following: a cover sheet, a letter to the birth parents, and information about us (who we are, our life, our families, where the baby will stay, etc.). The hard part about making our portfolio was that is was only supposed to be around 10 pages total, including the cover page and letter. Ours totaled 11 pages. The portfolios are a requirement because case workers show them to birth parents. Birth parents look at various portfolios in efforts to choose the family desired for their adoption plan.

I (Erin) worked on the portfolio for a while. It started with an outline of what we wanted the birth parents to know about us. I tried several times to start the formation of the portfolio but it just wasn't coming together. Finally, the Wednesday before our October 14th meeting when the portfolio needed to be submitted, the ideas finally started to come together. Earlier that week I came up with what background I wanted to use. I then started looking through pictures. I put all the pictures I thought relevant into PowerPoint slides based on categories (marriage, family, kid involvement, hobbies, etc.). In addition to working on the portfolio, that was a crazy busy week for Cross Country. I had a Cross Country meet that Monday and that Wednesday. Every night that week was a late night, especially the night I worked on the birth parent letter. That Wednesday's Cross Country meet was in Macon (2 hours away), which made for an extra long day. I took my lap top and narrowed down pictures on the way there and on the way back. That night was an all-nighter. The portfolio was finished around 7:00 that next morning. I then emailed it to our case worker for approval so that it could be printed that night after work.

The portfolio is all God - from start to finish - from white paper to green paper - from outline to binding ribbon. The earlier days of that particular week were extremely exhausting. I just couldn't stay up later than around 1:00. However, Wednesday was different. God just gave me the ideas and energy needed to complete the portfolio. I wasn't even tired. I sat on the floor of the baby room and worked and worked. Now, just so it's clear, Eric did help with the portfolio in other ways. I am the writer and creative project person in the family, so I volunteered to take on the writing and creative aspects of the task. In addition to having energy to stay up all night and actually think, God gave me the strength for work that Thursday.

After work that day, Eric and I went to Staples to have our portfolio printed (pictured to the left). 8 copies were made because there are 7 birth mom case workers and we also wanted a copy. We then went and picked out ribbon and scrapbook pages (the portfolios are bound in clear paper sleeves because many of the case workers put all the portfolios in a huge binder). We then went home to assemble the portfolios. Seeing the finished product was a relief and a blessing. We also couldn't believe that the time to turn in portfolios had finally arrived! We had been told for so long . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . Turning in portfolios (pictured to the right) meant that birth parents would FINALLY get to know about us! 
  
The following posts will feature the various parts of the portfolio so you can see what birth parents will see. As you see each page, pray for the birth parents who are seeking families for their adoption plans. Pray that God will give them wisdom. Pray that God will unite us with our future child in His perfect timing and that we will patiently pray in the meantime.