The Process

Thank you to all of you who were praying for us yesterday during our first home study visit! It went very well. The majority of what we went over was our family backgrounds and we, of course, got some more paperwork to do! :)

Many people have been asking me about the process and how it works, so I thought I'd give you a quick run down of what I know so far. Keep in mind that there are different types of adoption: international, domestic infants (infants from the U.S.), and through the foster care system. There are similarities and differences in how the process works for each, so all I can speak to is how it's working for us with a domestic infant adoption.
 
The first thing a family does once they commit to adoption is to find an agency to work with. That is a process all on it's own! Once that agency is picked, you fill out an application for that agency to see if they'll work with you. Once you're approved through them, you begin what's called your homestudy process. This is basically a series of 3 meetings you have with the person from your agency that you'll be working with (this is the point in the process where we're at). From what I know of that so far, you are given paperwork to work on throughout, some training to do, and you answer many questions about you, your family, your relationships, and probably many more things we haven't experienced yet! ;) We will also put together a "profile" about our family that will be sent out to prospective mothers. Once your homestudy is complete after the 3rd visit, your agency sends out your profile to other agencies. Then we wait. We wait for the birth mother of our future child to find us and choose us.

Ah, waiting. My favorite.

To be honest, there's not a lot about this process that I'm afraid of. We know that God has another child out there for us and we KNOW that God keeps His promises and works everything out for the good of those who love Him. But there is one thing I am dreading.

Waiting.

Waiting for God to provide the money we need to complete the homestudy. Waiting for the birth mother to choose us. All I can do in the waiting is pray. But the reality of being a follower of Christ is that prayer is the single most powerful thing we can do. I am learning to live in that truth.

Anita, the woman we're working with through God's Children Adoption Agency (who I'm sure will become a fast friend), is coming over again on Tues., April 12th. I'm excited that she'll be joining us for dinner, too! She really will become a part of the family. :)

And in the end, all the waiting will be worth it.