Day One - 12/21/17 

Placement Day {the day we met the girls} was full of every emotion you could imagine....times TWO! We had two different meetings, two different places, two different times, with two different babies (What in the world?!?!) I was still wrapping my head around the fact that God blessed us with two baby girls! And TODAY we were meeting them! TODAY they were ours?!?! TODAY our waiting was over!?!?! 

Since Kinley had already been discharged out of the NICU, we went to the agency to meet her first {of course, after spending another hour signing more papers ✒️📄}. As our social worker went to get her, my heart raced. Like pounded in my chest, i just ran a marathon, I think I'm going to faint, race! I was about to meet my daughter. Our daughter. ONE of our TWO daughters! 4 years of waiting for this moment raced through my head.  But those 4 years of trying and waiting, the pain, the excitement of pregnancies, the losses, the stabbing heartache of birth announcements, the longing, the cursing, the wondering "why not me", all made since when they placed that sweet, tiny girl in my arms. This was why. She was why. God knew why ALL ALONG. Kinley was why! 

(I mean, look how tiny she is in that big ole' seat!) 

After many tears were shed, and a million questions were asked (because, what on earth do we do now?) we hopped in the car and drove an hour to meet sister! Hayden was getting discharged out of the NICU Friday so we headed to the hospital where they were born. We were blessed enough to get to stay the night Thursday in the hospital with both girls and go home as a family of 4 on Friday!  To many, staying in the hospital wouldn’t seem like a blessing, but if you’ve ever imagined having a baby, that’s typically a piece that you envision. You imagine the visitors, the advice, the assistance  (because still in my mind, what do we do now?), the whole experience. As a woman, I had come to terms that that wouldn’t be our experience since we were adopting, but our gracious God had other plans. As we arrived to the hospital, we were greeted with a mob of NICU nurses, all thrilled to see Kinley, and meet their forever family!  Side Note: if you’ve ever experienced the NICU, you know how all sorts of amazing those nurses are! I am SO THANKFUL to have gotten to meet the wonderful ladies who loved on, cared for, and prayed over our sweet baby girls before we could! Anyways, so after we chatted with them a bit and they showed us to our room, we were off to meet Hayden! Again, the flood of emotions came back like a fierce wave.  As I walked in the NICU and saw my precious girl hooked up to all those monitors, I couldn’t help but praise God for his goodness! Although she was hooked up, she looked healthy and happy. I knew she had been cared for and was now thriving. The nurse handed her to me and I was able to sit and rock her, in the quietness only pierced by the beeps of machines, and I again realized, this is all why. Hayden was why too!  This is our purpose. Since Hayden had been doing so well, they wanted to take her off the machines and have her sleep with us in the room overnight to see how she did. They got her all unhooked and sent us to our room to meet Dad {he was still with Kinley} and see sister again! 

Walking in that room, our family was complete. The 4 of us were all together. Our daughters were back together. My heart was put back together. And from that moment on, I couldn’t imagine life any other way. 

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Happenings Lately!!!

I find myself, lately, stepping very lightly, trying not to break the glass.  I find myself staying calm, trying not to rock the boat.  I find myself looking down, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I hesitate even acknowledging this, much less putting it out there for hundreds to see....but lately, things have been going AMAZINGLY.  I worry that as soon as I acknowledge the great things in my life, something negative must happen to balance it out.  I KNOW this is not the way God works.  In Romans 8:28 (a verse I have held onto dearly during this journey) it says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."   So today, I am pushing aside FEAR, and I pushing away SATAN, and I am publicly celebrating {and praising GOD} of all the amazing things that have been happening around here lately! 

March Madness!!!

Some of you may remember me telling you in my last post about a friend who created a March Madness bracket, which part of the entry fees would be donated to help with our adoption costs.  We ended up having 48 teams join our bracket at a chance to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place prizes - and help us get a step closer to bringing our baby home!!! How AMAZING is that?!?! :) Anyways, my family is definitely into sports, but college basketball hasn't been something we've ever gotten into.  The bracket challenge made it SO MUCH FUN to watch the tournament.  (Being as competitive as most of my friends are may have helped too! HA)  Thank you Adam and Amanda for thinking up a fun way to celebrate, and help, us along this journey.

Here were our standings.....

Whomp, whomp, whomp.

But, those people in 1st AND 3rd....

 are my MOM AND DAD!!!

They told me early on that if they won, they would donate the winnings towards the adoption, which was so very sweet, but something I chuckled at the thought of.  Not only to get 48 people to sign up, but to ALSO have my biggest supporters win 1st AND 3rd place was totally something in God's hands! (insert praise Jesus emoji)

  A sweet friend the other day said "See, God even cares about the smallest of details, like March Madness brackets!" and I couldn't agree more!!!


2 Home Studies and Fingerprints all in 2 weeks!!!!!

Last week we began the home study process.  To begin our homestudy, Eric and I had to go in separately to do individual interviews.  We were both able to get scheduled just a few days after we were cleared through financials, AND both were scheduled for the same day.  (Same day equals less waiting time, which equals a BIG WIN in my book!)  The interviews were very relaxed and comfortable >>>if anyone were to ever ask me at this point for any advice, it would be to choose an agency who you really feel comfortable with<<<.  Most of the questions asked in this first interview were about our upbringing and childhoods.  Questions like; describe yourself, what were your favorite memories as a child, how did your parents discipline you, describe your family dynamics, what do you like most/struggle with most in your marriage, made me even more thankful than I am about the life that God gave me.

Our second interview for the home study was yesterday! (Moving Fast = a WIN!)  For this part of the home study, our social worker met us at the house for a joint interview and a "walk through" of our home.  We worked tirelessly all weekend to make sure everything was perfect (which it didn't need to be, of course).  When our social worker arrived, we quickly showed her the house and then sat at the kitchen table (with some yummy coffee) to chat. This time the questions were focused on Eric and I and our marriage.  We, again, felt completely comfortable during our interview.  We even joked and bantered back and forth about a few of the questions >>> "who does the chores" "who is in charge of the finances" and "how can you tell when the other is stressed" are some questions that yielded lots of laughs.  I truly feel that God put a total sense of peace over me during this part of the process.  I would typically be one to {worry} and try to convey this perfect life, but I was open, honest, and myself, and I felt completely okay with that! :)

After our joint interviews, our social worker sent us the link to register for our fingerprints.  ***This is one of those things I have DREADED and had NIGHTMARES over!***  I think this has been a stress because I have heard so many times about how the fingerprints and government (bless) have held up the process.  I was so anxious to get this part taken care of so that we could hurry and WAIT.  What apparently I didn't know is that Texas ROCKS and the scheduling and turn around for the fingerprints here are pretty quick.  We were able to schedule our fingerprints for this weekend and they said they should have the results to the agency within a week or so.  (wooohooo!)

Our next...AND LAST...homestudy will be this Monday!

Things are moving FAST!

Praise. The. Lord.

Tshirt Sales!!!

Our T-shirt fundraiser closed on Monday, and was a HUGE success!  This would not have happened without our amazing friends and family who bought shirts, BLASTED social media, and shared our fundraiser.  Those who know me well, know that I am a pretty private person.  I am the type that not until I am asked (or really demanded) will accept help from others.  God has humbled my heart, and allowed me to be okay with letting others help.  We would have been some of the last people to actually ask for help (especially financially) unless God made a change in us.  I am so thankful that he did, because we would never have gotten to experience the overwhelming sense of LOVE and SUPPORT that we have felt throughout all of these fundraisers.

We sold 267 shirts! Our goal was passed! Our profits were bigger than we imagined! 
Our hearts are so full they could burst! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Coming Up, An Adoption Auction!

If you get tired of hearing me brag on my AMAZING family and friends, you may want to skip this part (or really all of my blog posts for that matter ;))  Some of my closest girlfriends are throwing a online auction in our honor.  They have been working hard to get some fabulous items donated to auction off!  Not only have they been so amazing by taking their time to do this outside of their jobs and their own families, but the people they have reached out to have been so receptive and excited to help! If you know any small business owners, or you yourself are one and would like to donate to our adoption auction, please check out the link below!

Online Adoption Auction

Mark your calendars for April 29th >>>There will be some GREAT ITEMS that you will not want to miss out on!<<<


Prayer Requests

We love the continued prayers! Specifically right now we would love for you to pray that the process continues to move smoothly.  Please pray for my heart to be full of joy and not to let fear creep in.  I am also feeling nervous that our big "wait" time will be during summer.  I am scared of the days where I am not being questioned 37194 times and I have too much time to "wait".  Pray that I find joy in the summertime, enjoying the things that I won't be able to when we have a baby! (hehe)  While we have had tons of success through our fundraisers, that very LARGE numbers still weighs on us. "How in the world are we going to get to $30,000" circles our thoughts.  Pray that God provides and that finances are not something that consumes our thoughts.  Lastly, please please please begin to pray for our birth mom and our dear baby.  Whoever our birthmom turns out to be has a challenging road she is walking (or about to walk).  Pray for comfort, support, and peace for her as well as good health for our future little babe.  :)


Until next time....Xoxo    





   

"It Takes a Village"

We've all heard the phrase, it takes a village to raise a child!  This phrase refers to the many people in a child's life who helps shape and mold them into the person they may become, from family, to friends, to even strangers.  Y'all, we are BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE by the village of people {near and far} who have supported our baby before they have even met him or her.  Thinking back on our journey so far, I cannot wait to share with our child the amazing village of people who rallied around us during this time.  The amount of the love that has already been poured out over our sweet baby could bring me to tears {and those who know me know that tears are rare!}  This baby, and we, are surrounded by the BEST VILLAGE I could ever imagine and it is a continuous blessing that I thank God for daily!

Our "Village" So Far Has: 

• Sent us some of the most supportive messages and words that we hold onto daily 
• Prayed over us NUMEROUS times 
• Shared our story over 500 times
• Gathered and donated baby items (including toys, clothes, and FORMULA!!!) 
• Supported our adoption by donating nearly $12,000 to help fund our adoption 
• Donated to our adoption garage sale which raised $1,300
• Created a March Madness Bracket which some of the proceeds will go towards our adoption
• Started raising items for an Adoption Auction that will be held at the end of April 

T-SHIRTS!

As much help and support as we have received, we still have a ways to go.  We knew after the rounds of IVF, we were going to have to raise money to fund this adoption and from the beginning, I couldn't wait to create a T-Shirt to help us raise money! Who doesn't love a good tee with a pair of jeans (or shorts)!?!?! I sure do!!  As I started scouring the web for design ideas (let me tell you, there are SOOOOO MANY) I enlisted in some help from my girls >>> get ya some helpful, creative, and slightly pushy friends if ya don't have em!<<< and they delivered.  While there were a lot of great sayings, quotes, and ideas we came across and came up with, I quickly realized that NONE of this could happen without the help we have received.  In thinking about our child, us, and every other person who comes in contact with a child, I have realized how true the saying "it takes a village" is which is why we created out t shirts around this phrase.  

While this is about how so many have helped us, it is also about so much more.  It is about the mom who works 8 hours a day, goes straight home and prepares dinner, does homework, plays with her child, bathes them, and works some more, teaching them the value of hard work.  It is about the sweet lady in the grocery store that politely lets a mom and her babies go first, teaching that child generosity.  It is about the teacher that finds every way to connect with a child who doesn't seem to have many friends, teaching that children that it is important to value others.  It is about the grandma who tells her grandchild stories from the past, teaching them how they got where they are today.  It is about the coach that has them run a few extra laps because they were goofing off at practice, teaching them that choices have consequences.  It is about the sunday school teacher that has a smile on her face every day, teaching them kindness.  "It Takes a Village" is about all people and would love for you to order a shirt to support our adoption, and show support of the village that impacts children every day! 

To order, simply click the link below and fill in your information for your shirt order.  You will be sent a payment invoice, via email, when sale closes on Monday, April 3rd! 

T-Shirt Order Form

And in honor of this "village" I have been talking nonstop about in today's post, here are a few pictures of SOME of the people that make up our amazing village!!! There are so many others that I don't have pictures of, but please know that we appreciate all of you so much!

Q&A's :)

On Friday Eric and I attended our first adoption education class through our agency.  As the day approached, we were filled with much anticipation and excitement.  This day finally put our adoption journey into "physical" motion.  We had been preparing, and celebrating, our decision for the past couple of months, and this class signified the buzzer sounding off!  As we walked in, we were greeted by 4 other families going through the adoption process and 3 social workers from the agency {pre-placement social worker, post placement social worker, and the birth mom social worker}.  We learned a lot and were joined with a wonderful community to walk with during this journey.

We have gotten many questions about our adoption journey over the past few weeks and have been working hard to come up with information to some of the most frequently asked questions.  We thought it would be a good idea to post some of these and share with you as we learn!  Feel free to ask us anything additional so that you can learn more as we do too!! :) 

Where will Baby be born?

We are pursuing domestic adoption, meaning we are adopting from within the U.S.  Hope Cottage works with birth mothers from the DFW metroplex, as well as pregnancy centers in Tyler, El Paso, and Lubbock Texas.  This means that our baby and birth mom will be from of one of these areas in Texas.  If they are born in an area other than DFW, we will travel there with our social worker to complete the adoption once they born!! 

How does this process work?

The first step was to turn in our Pre-Placement Adoption Evaluation and Application to the agency.  {Check} Next we have to attend our AES classes, which we are currently doing. {Check(ish) - We will have another one on Tuesday to finish up our hours}  Once our hours are complete we will be released to schedule our fingerprints through the FBI {I have heard this is the most frustrating part of the process!}  

During this time we will also begin our Pre-Placement Evaluation (Home Study) Process.  Through this process we have:

a. Individual and joint interviews with the social worker 

b. Home visits with all family members present 

c. interview with any others living in the home 

d. All supporting documentation gathered, complete, and signed off on 

Once the pre-placement adoption evaluation is approved, we have to pay our first fee of $10,000 in order to finalize our license.     

>>>We are currently working on our adoption profile book. Our profile book will play an important part in our adoption. This is basically a scrapbook of our lives-it includes pictures of us, describes our life, interests, beliefs and what kind of life we hope to give to a child. The purpose of this book is to allow the birthmother (and father if he is involved) to see if they can picture their child becoming part of our family. We even get to include a letter to the birthmother, thanking her for choosing life for her child and for considering us to parent her baby.<<<

 Once we have completed our home study, profile book, and done more fundraising, we will be ready to present to birthmothers. This means that our social worker will start showing our profiles to potential birthmothers. If we accept the birthmother as a match, our profile book will then be presented to her. The birthmother could be presented with many books at a time!  We might have to present our profile book to multiple birthmothers before one chooses us and we become a match!  During this time, we will become a part of the "waiting families" and will continue quarterly training and contact with the agency. 

How long will it take?

We aren’t sure, which is an answer that in and of itself gives me a bit of anxiety!  The typical adoption process can take anywhere from just a few months {HOLY COW!} to over a year {PLEASE LORD NO!!}. Our adoption agency helps to make the process go as quick as they can, in a conservative and safe manner, and they rarely have a family wait more than 6-9 months (once the family is approved and “active”).  Birth mom's that work with our agency are not shown adoptive families until they have gone through counseling and are in their 7th month of pregnancy, which means once we are matched, we will only have a few months to wait.  There are also situations that arise where our agency is contacted by a hospital and in that case we could be contacted right after baby is delivered.  In that case we would have our baby 48 hours after we are contacted.   

What are the expenses of adoption?

Adoptions are expensive. Adoptions in the U.S. typically range from $20,000-$45,000. The cost is very intimidating and most people are shocked when they learn about the financial side of adoption.  We are currently researching and thinking about multiple ways to fund-raise and help finance our adoption. We have also been looking into grants and adoption loan options to help with the balance of fees left after we fund-raise. We will be fundraising throughout our adoption process so that we will be prepared financially when Baby Ferraris is ready to come home!    

How old? Gender? Race?

We are adopting a newborn. We are hoping to be there (wherever it ends up being) the day our baby is born (or as soon as possible) but we know that Gods plans are set and we are preparing our hearts to be accepting of it however it comes!  We are excited to see what baby God has picked out for our family and ready for the adventure! 

When praying and talking about our adoption options, we both felt like we should be open minded and not put many limitations on what baby could be ours. That being said, we don’t have a preference for gender! We might be able to find out the gender once we are matched with a birth mother, but there is a high chance that we will not know the sex until the baby is born! 

We are also open to a baby from any race or ethnicity.  We know adopting a child from a different race will be a challenge in many ways, but we are excited about the possibility of having a diverse family and look forward to learning more about raising a family in this way!  We are currently reading {A LOT} on adoption in general, but some of our reading has included information on having a trans-racial family.  We know that this will be a different situation for many of our family and friends and we plan on sharing our learning along with you. :)    

How can we help?

The number one way we would love for you to be a part of our journey is through prayer! There are so many unknowns in this process; we believe that God has a plan for us and that HE is in control! Pray for our hearts to fully trust in Him through the journey!

You can consider donating to our adoption through the YouCaring sight our friends have set up for us! 

https://www.youcaring.com/ericandmaeganferraris-751068

We are working on getting t-shirts set up now for our next adoption fundraiser! We’re hoping it will be up and running in the next few weeks! You can also participate in the fundraisers that we will be putting on throughout the coming months. We are brainstorming about fundraisers right now and will definitely need people who are willing to volunteer, donate items, time and resources!  Finally, keep asking us about our adoption adventure! We LOVE to talk about it and it helps us feel encouraged, supported and excited! 

Lastly, in our classes this week we focused a lot on how adoption has changed over the years.  Along with this changes have come changes in the way we talk about adoption and the words we use.  We, ourselves, have been guilty of using language that may have been hurtful or offensive to those going through, or have gone through, adoption before.  I hope this chart is useful for all of us to help shed the positive light adoption has on our world and to help encourage those who have ever walked in these shoes.  

As ALWAYS, we love and appreciate all the support we have had through this journey.  We hope you will continue to follow along and share our story!!! :) -Xoxo 

3 Day Weekend!

First of all --- Can I just get an AMEN for 3 day weekends! I feel so much more accomplished, and like my life isn't in complete chaos, when I have that extra day to get necessary things done! I could definitely be one who fights for 4 day work weeks and 3 day weekends.  (Who is with me?!?!) 

Anyways, Monday was a productive day! I was off for President's day, so I was able to get a lot of necessary things checked off the list!! First up was a trip to the doctor.  Each of us has to have a complete physical done, blood work ran, TB tested, HIV tested, and be up to date with our vaccinations.  Let me tell you, between fertility and this, I have been poked by more needles in the past few years than I have in my lifetime.  But, if it brings us one step closer to our sweet little baby, I will do it over and over again! 

After I left the doctor, I sped made a trip to Starbucks.  It was 12:30 and I hadn't had a drop of coffee or a bite to eat!  I grabbed my coffee and settled down in a very happening Starbucks near downtown.  {So this is what the world is like outside of my four classroom walls on a weekday?! I kind of dig it!}  I sat there and worked a little bit more on our autobiographies since I was taking them to the agency later that day.  I wanted needed a final "look over"! I snapped a little picture to show my sweet 3rd graders that adults even look over their papers numerous times, making necessary changes, for it to be the best that it can be. 

(Productivity paired with a little lesson for my kids is a win!)

From Starbucks I stopped by Fedex to print and copy all {bazillion} of our documents. (Keeping doubles of everything is advice I have heard from numerous people about this process) I then headed in to downtown to visit our agency and drop off our paperwork!!  From the beginning of this journey, the thing that stressed me out FIRST was choosing an agency.  There are SO many out there.  How was I (the girl who can't decide what to wear, what to eat for dinner, what plans to make, what color to paint my nails, on and on and on) going to choose an agency with whom we would put all of our trust in (aside from the good Lord of course) to help us find our baby!!! I was dreading it! But through a series of excel sheets, phone calls, interviews and referrals, we confidently decided to go with our agency Hope Cottage.  

I cannot describe to you how confident I am in the decision we made with our agency.  I was telling a friend how much I love our agency.  Even with ALL the other options out there, I don't hesitate for a second about where we should be.  She told me "God must be telling you that YOUR baby is there!".  Ahhhhh!!! Cue the tears and goosebumps! She is so right though.  Our birth mom could be working with our agency right now.  Our baby could be growing and we don't even know it yet.  Our baby is being formed by God somewhere and I cannot wait to see how this journey unravels for our family!!  

Psalm 17:6 “My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.”

Sweet Celebrations

This week we celebrated Valentines Day at school.  My sweet kids showered me with gifts, the SWEETEST notes, and TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE!  We knew that just as we would announce and celebrate with my kids if we became pregnant, we would do the same with our adoption news.  I decided that since my kids were already hyped up on excitement and sugar, why not throw some SUPER exciting news to the mix!!  We played "happy heart" {our Valentines version of hangman} with all 40 kids in one room.  My Ah-Ma-Zing partner teacher and friend captured their excitement.

Check out the video of them finding out that Mrs. Ferraris is adopting a BABY! :)

This was such an incredible sweet moment.  These have been my 40 children over the past 5 months and they were celebrating the new addition to our "family".  A few of the responses I remember hearing over the excitement were "You are going to be a mom?!?!?!  You are going to be the best mommy!  I want to babysit them!  Are they here now?!?!  I hope we get to meet them."  {I am telling you guys, this sweet baby is SO SO loved already and doesn't even know it!}  I wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go, as adoption could easily be a foreign concept for an 8 year old to understand, but the conversation was much like any other pregnancy announcement.

Do you want a boy or a girl?
What are you going to name him or her?
If it is a girl you should name her {fill in any princess, pop singer, TV star name here}
If it is a boy you should name him {fill in any superhero name here}
Do you have a room for them?

Then one sweet boy said: "How do you know you are going to adopt a baby if they are not born yet?"

What I wanted to say was, "We know God loves us and has BIG plans for our future.  We fully believe in our hearts that he will provide this for us and trust in His goodness," but I settled for "An organization helps sweet mommies that want to find someone to take good care of their baby, so they are going to help us find that mommy."  And I am so thankful for both of those answers!!! :)

My prayers have been so surreal lately.  Through infertility, I never felt I had the chance to actually have something or someone to pray for {other than praying for God to make me pregnant}.  Lately I have prayed for our sweet baby.  I have prayed for the courageous birth mom that has a hard road ahead of her.  Although I have NO clue who or where they are, I know that He does, and because of that, I have such a peace.  I thank God for giving me peace during this unknown time in our lives and growing me in my faith.

At church today we had another powerful message where our guest speaker Jonathan Martin spoke on the Surviving the Shipwreck.  His message was this - "There WILL come a shaking to us.  We WILL be shaken up in our lives.  We NEED to be shaken at times in order for the Lord to expose the treasures inside of us."  This is OH. SO. TRUE. Yes, infertility sucked.  It was hard watching everyone else get what I wanted.  It made me question many things.  It broke my heart.  It caused me anger.  It drew tears from my eyes.  I was shaken over and over and over...But, it also opened up this incredible gift.  Since we decided to adopt, I have grown so much in my faith.  I have had to be humbled {multiple times}.  I have learned that His plans are SO much better than we can imagine.  I have opened myself up to be vulnerable and exposed.  I have heard from so many how much our story has inspired others.  I would have never {EVER} thought I would have been telling our story for all to hear and I thank God for exposing these treasures in me.


"6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”  

Lots of Paperwork...and a GREAT church message!

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.  

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