Things are full speed ahead in the adoption process this month!!! We are OH SO excited to finally be able to begin. We thought and prayed on this decision for months. We waited to look into agencies until we were certain. We waited to tell our families until we were "accepted" into an agency. We waited to tell our friends until things got closer. And while we know there will be plenty more waiting, we are celebrating that things are finally beginning!!!
First we will have to attend an Adoption Education Seminar that is required through the agency. This will be a two day "crash course" on all things adoption. Of course, there is no way you can even cover or anticipate things that may come up through this journey, but this is an attempt to prepare us as much as possible. Praise the Lord that we have an amazing village of family and friends. We have had multiple people who have walked in these shoes offer their support, advice and/or anything we may need.
Prior to the AES (get ready to learn tons of adoption language on here folks) we have to fill out some paperwork our life stories. Guys...this paper work is NO JOKE! I mean, anything you could and wouldn't ever think about asking is asked through this paperwork. But, we made the best of it. We sat down with a healthy balanced diet...and got to work!
Most of this paperwork had to do with our lives over the past 10 years and our childhoods. The past 10 years were mainly where did you go to school, what jobs have you held, where have you lived, etc. I definitely regretted going to so many different schools, changing jobs often in college, and moving so many times. We had to put information for EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. The second set of forms we had to fill out was about our childhood and our relationship, then and now, with our families. Not that we didn't already realize or know this, but we both have AMAZING families. Loving, compassionate, warm, fun, supportive, and happy were words that came up continuously. We have both been so blessed by our immediate and extended families that we cannot wait to bless our sweet baby with their love too.
Along with family and friends, who are our rocks, we also belong to a church that we love dearly. Hope Fellowship has been an addition in our lives and we couldn't imagine going through this without. Our pastor is in the middle of series titled Broken Hearts. Gosh people- don't we all need a message on this. We know that our world is full of sin. We are not sinless. We will be heartbroken in our lives. However, when that time comes, we must deal with our heartbreak the way He intended us to. This week the message was on mourning ---specifically, how to mourn in a Godly way. Our Pastor, John, reminded us this week that Matthew 5:4 says "God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted". I do thank God for this promise. During all of our hardships, I can say that even in the midst of pain, sorrow, sometimes anger and even bitterness, we were comforted. When people would say things such as: "I don't know how yall do it", I knew "we" weren't doing anything. It was only through God's grace and comfort that we got through those many difficult times. We ended our message this week with a song that I know needs to be heard by someone on the other end of this screen. We can all find comfort through our wonderful loving Father...Even When It Hurts.
Prayer Requests
If you have not already done so, please begin to pray for our birth mother. Even though we have no idea who she will be, we know that He does. We know that she has a difficult journey ahead of her, so please pray for her heart. Also please pray as we begin to juggle life with the added things we will have to do in order to finish up the rest of our paper work. Pray for little stress, continued focus, and patience for each of our hearts. Lastly we continue to need financial support to be able to stay on our timeline to adopt through our agency. We will have to have the first 10,000 dollar once our home study is completed (probably sometime in April) and the remaining amount after that. Please pray that those that are able to give, give generously and pray that we remain faithful that He will help provide for us.
We love you guys!! Thank you for being so open on this journey. We are praying for you both and know the Lord has the most perfect plan! We, too, love this series from Pastor John. It's a great one!
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