- Home Study - it is finally progressing - we got a new social worker, because our previous one had some pregnancy complications, so we kind of had to start over again. We have met with the new social worker twice so far, and we really like her, which makes it a lot easier when you and your family are being evaluated by someone you don't know. :)
The first meeting she talked to Darren and me kind of in general about us and why we want to adopt, and she interviewed Trevor and Alex, asking them to tell her about themselves, and what they thing about us adopting. The second meeting (yesterday) she talked to us more specifically about our marriage and child-rearing philosophies, and interviewed Lindsay and Justin, who were home for spring break and Campus Harvest. It was really cool to hear the kids all talk about themselves and about how they feel about us adding to our family through adoption; she said she was very impressed by all of our kids. :) We have one more meeting in two weeks, and then we'll be done.
- Application Process - I sent in our second set of documents to AAI. Once the home study is done, as long as everything is okay, we will send that in, and then I think next we will put together our dossier - more copies of documents like birth certificates, medical reports, etc, which I think we already have most of. I'm not entirely clear on the whole process, but we're just taking it one step at a time.
- Finances - When we send in the home study, we need to pay AAI their fee, which is $2400. God has provided $2000 of that already so far!
1) Someone backed into my car in a parking lot, and their insurance paid to have it fixed. The insurance adjuster said the whole passenger door needed to be replaced, and wrote me a check for that - but the body shop said it wasn't necessary, that they only needed to replace the outer panel. We had $760 left over from that!
2) We are keeping a friend's dog for the summer, and they are so generously giving us $1000 for that (they wanted to help us with the adoption).
3) I sold some of the boys' old toys and sports equipment on Craigslist, and have made a little over $200 so far from that.
So we just need $400 more, and we have two more weeks or so for that. I know this is kind of specific, but I want to show how God is so faithful to provide what we need when we need it, and how he can use anything, even something that seems bad like being hit by another car. :) Of course, there are a lot more bigger expenses coming up, but I know that where he leads us, he will provide.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Moving forward...
We are finally moving forward with our adoption! Our home study had been on hold until Darren and I finished our training (10 hours each), which we did about a month ago, and until we made a definite decision about which country we want to adopt from.
As you know, we had been trying to decide between Uganda and Ethiopia, and leaning towards Uganda. But in the last few months there have been some issues in the courts there, pretty much putting all international adoptions on hold. Also, I had received an email from Jalia at Royal Orphanage saying that the boys she had recommended to me, Rogers and his brother, are going to be adopted by their sponsor. There are other boys available, of course, and I'm confident that the issues in the courts will be worked out; but because of these things, we had been thinking more about Ethiopia.
As I was thinking about Ethiopia, I first emailed my friend Eileen who had sent me information about the two brothers at Kolfe Boys Orphanage that she really wanted to find a family for. But she said that actually another family is in the process of adopting those brothers - which is a great thing for them! - but a closed door for us.
Then another friend, Deanna, who has adopted three children from Ethiopia, sent me a newsletter from an agency called Adoption Advocates International (AAI) about three siblings, two boys and a girl, who are available for adoption at Layla House, their orphanage in Ethiopia. When Darren and I read over their information, we were really drawn to them. I contacted the agency, and they told me that a couple other families are also interested in these children and are farther along in the process than we are. But, we still felt that we should pursue adopting from Ethiopia, and were impressed by this agency. We had to make sure our home study agency was willing to sign an agreement with AAI, which I found out on Friday that they did; so now we can move forward. I am mailing our application to AAI on Monday, and hopefully we can finish up our home study in the next couple of weeks.
Another interesting thing is that as I looked at the AAI website, I realized I had heard about Layla House before - I read about it in the book There is No Me Without You a year or so ago. This is a book which had a great impact on me in terms of beginning to think about adoption. And it turns out that our book club is reading this book right now as well!
As you know, we had been trying to decide between Uganda and Ethiopia, and leaning towards Uganda. But in the last few months there have been some issues in the courts there, pretty much putting all international adoptions on hold. Also, I had received an email from Jalia at Royal Orphanage saying that the boys she had recommended to me, Rogers and his brother, are going to be adopted by their sponsor. There are other boys available, of course, and I'm confident that the issues in the courts will be worked out; but because of these things, we had been thinking more about Ethiopia.
As I was thinking about Ethiopia, I first emailed my friend Eileen who had sent me information about the two brothers at Kolfe Boys Orphanage that she really wanted to find a family for. But she said that actually another family is in the process of adopting those brothers - which is a great thing for them! - but a closed door for us.
Then another friend, Deanna, who has adopted three children from Ethiopia, sent me a newsletter from an agency called Adoption Advocates International (AAI) about three siblings, two boys and a girl, who are available for adoption at Layla House, their orphanage in Ethiopia. When Darren and I read over their information, we were really drawn to them. I contacted the agency, and they told me that a couple other families are also interested in these children and are farther along in the process than we are. But, we still felt that we should pursue adopting from Ethiopia, and were impressed by this agency. We had to make sure our home study agency was willing to sign an agreement with AAI, which I found out on Friday that they did; so now we can move forward. I am mailing our application to AAI on Monday, and hopefully we can finish up our home study in the next couple of weeks.
Another interesting thing is that as I looked at the AAI website, I realized I had heard about Layla House before - I read about it in the book There is No Me Without You a year or so ago. This is a book which had a great impact on me in terms of beginning to think about adoption. And it turns out that our book club is reading this book right now as well!
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