Grant Approval and Baby Steps

Grant: We found out yesterday that we have been approved for a matching grant! We will fill you in on the details when we receive them! Exciting times!

Taking Baby Steps: I know we are still waiting for our approval with Covenant Care (which we should have in about 2 weeks), but I purchased our first piece of baby clothing this week: a Georgia Bulldog shirt (on sale at Wal-Mart for only $!)! It's been a while since I enjoyed looking at baby clothes, but I'm excited about looking at baby clothes now. It's hard to look at baby clothes when you've been told you will never have your own baby, so that's been something to work through. This new step in our adoption process has even made me feel okay with going in to Babies R' Us to get a baby gate for our puppy. :) Eric and I are excited to see what lies ahead!

Received

We received a confirmation email today from Covenant Care Services. They have received our pre-application. We should be receiving another email within three weeks letting us know when our pre-application is processed.

The Next Leg

As always and without fail, God answers our prayers. We have been praying for wisdom about the next step we should take in the adoption process. Over the course of the past month we have requested information from several adoption agencies and have contacted many people. We both have a heart for the nations, so we were first looking at other international adoption options. We found an international adoption agency that would help us in our pursuit of a Chinese adoption, but then found out that both adoptive parents must be at least 30. The age requirement does not work for Erin! So, what next? We then proceeded to look at other international options as well as domestic options (America). Several years ago, when we first looked into adoption, we wanted to adopt an infant. God has brought us back to that spot. Having a puppy has even helped confirm that desire. Even though we have to clean up poop, loose sleep, and sacrifice our own desires to play with the dog, she's still worth it. On May 4th, a church member approached Erin to ask about our adoption process. Once hearing our latest news, she informed us of a wonderful, Christian adoption agency (Covenant Care Services), that she used for her son's adoption. After researching and praying, we are now in this friend's shoes. Yesterday we mailed our application and home study to Covenant Care, and it was received this morning at 9:06! This agency was willing to accept our home study (which our case worker graciously updated for free)! The agency should probably be able to use our fingerprint documents, too! This means we will not have to start completely over! We are excited about this next step. Please be in prayer for Covenant Care Services as our application is reviewed. Also pray for our future child - pray that God will unite us with the birth mom He has divinely appointed for us. Pray that God will receive all the glory through this next leg of our adoption journey.

180 Degree Turn

On March 24th we completed our blood work as planned. Later that day, we received word from our girls' orphanage that the girls no longer desire to be adopted. Their mom has re-entered the picture and says that she is working on getting her life back on track so she can earn her parental rights back. This news was confirmed by several individuals, indicating a closed door. We were very sad and on an emotional roller coaster at first because we deeply love these girls, but we are trusting in God's plan and have a peace about moving on. We spent the last 14 days in prayer about this situation and in reading the first 14 chapters of Proverbs. God's Word never ceases to comfort, minister, guide, and speak to us.

Please pray for Princess #1, Princess #2, and their mom. Pray that they will continue to learn of God's love, that they will enter into a personal relationship with God, that God will put more Christians in their path, that they will believe they are truly beautiful, and that their hearts will be guarded. Pray for us as we seek God's direction for the next step He would have us take. Thank you to those who have supported us so far; your contributions are not in vain and will help in a future adoption. To those who are reading this blog and have considered adoption, please do not let this discourage you. Putting yourself out there and taking the risk of adoption is worth the opportunity you are offering to children. We know that God has a perfect family put together for us, we just haven't met them yet. In this time we rest in God's promise: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

In the meantime, we have expanded our family anyway . . . we now have a puppy to love on and care for! Here's a picture of our Frenchton (half French Bulldog and half Boston Terrier). Her name is Chara (pronounced Car-uh) - Greek for joy. She is our temporary joy, but Jesus is our forever joy, even in the difficult times!

Checked Off

Another item on the list checked off! Blood work is complete (except for waiting for the results to get back). Since I mentioned before that I strongly dislike needles, as my blood was taken this morning I tightly squeezed two stress balls, turned my head, closed my eyes, clinched my teeth, and sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in my head. I also prayed for our future daughters because the blood work is for them.

Please be praying for a meeting we have this Saturday morning. At 9:30 a.m. we will have an interview with a grant committee. Having this grant would be a HUGE blessing.

Transformed Thoughts: Thinking Like a Parent

For eight years Eric and I have been without children of our own in our home. However, we have worked and still work with children on a consistent basis. Even working with children and after hosting our daughters-to-be for two hosting programs already, it is still mind-boggling to think about how in only a few months there will be four permanent people in our home instead of two. We will go from no kids to an almost teenager and a 2nd grader! Unbelievable, but exciting at the same time. Many months ago we began the process of rearranging our budget, considering schools for our kids, thinking about extra curricular activities, discussing various situations, reflecting on what it was like to be parents for a month, thinking about how our schedules will change, etc. Just recently has this all been becoming very real, especially since we are finally in the paperwork stages. We went from talking about adoption to researching adoption, meeting two amazing girls who fit perfectly in our family, waiting for the girls to be available for adoption, submitting an initial application, having a home study, to now waiting for an application to come back to us indicating that we can bring the girls into our country to be called our own children! Now that this is really happening, I am really almost speechless. While thinking about the things I will be saying goodbye to in order to be a mom, I am also thinking about the things I will finally be able to say hello to. For instance, this will be my last summer break without children (except for the hosting program), but how exciting it will be to have summers to pour into two precious children.

Where are we at now in the process? Eric and I go to the doctor at 8:00 tomorrow morning for blood work. This is required for our international paperwork. I'll just think about our princesses while the needle is in my arm! I hate needles, so that means I really love these girls!!! :) The next two weeks will be filled with international paperwork and getting everything ready to send over to our girls' country for translation. After papers are translated, they will be submitted for approval.

Our main focus right now is raising support. We have been researching and applying for grants. We have already completed some fundraisers and are in the middle of a fundraiser now. In the next week or two we will need to submit a payment of around $2,000, of which we still need $1,840. Pray for God's provisions and share our story with others. Tell people about our puzzle piece fundraiser and how much $10 can change two lives forever!

After speaking with our oldest daughter-to-be last weekend via skype, I can see even more why it is so important that these girls, as well as others, have a loving, forever family.

Thanks so much for reading our blog. Please keep visiting our blog as we keep you posted on our adoption process!

Do you have any questions about our adoption? Leave your questions in the comment section.

Faces of the Fatherless: You Can Make a Difference