Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Homestudy Interviews Scheduled

Yesterday we received a call from the director of Hope's Promise letting us know that our file has been reviewed and we are cleared for the next step!  The next phase involves 3 different interviews with a case worker who has been assigned to us for the remainder of our adoption journey.  Our first interview is both Karl and I together and it will be on December 27th.  The second interview is each of us individually and that will be on January 3rd.  The individual interviews will be pretty lengthy at 2 hours each!   Finally, the 3rd interview will be in our home on January 5th.  This is basically to inspect our home and make sure it is safe for a child.  We're not too nervous but it sure will be nice to have these done!

We were talking yesterday about how smooth this whole process has been for us.  Throughout our time of infertility it was so frustrating because everything was out of our control.  When we started the adoption process it was very exciting because it felt like we had some control in the matter. For example: which agency we chose, when to start the process, how quickly we wanted to get the paperwork done, ect.  Then we went to our training through the agency and one of the things that kept being brought up was, letting go of all  our expectations.  It was good for us to hear this and also remember that ultimately it's all in God's hands anyways and He already knows the exact timing of this whole process for us.  We've tried to just let go of our expectations and know that when it happens, it's in His perfect timing.  God has blessed us tremendously with an experience that seems to be painless and even enjoyable!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Fingerprints are back!

Today we received a call from the agency letting us know they received our FBI fingerprints in the mail!  After hearing it can take up to 12 weeks, we had totally settled in for a long wait.  It took exactly 8 weeks, to the day, for them to be processed.  Todays call came as a bit of a surprise!  This is officially the last thing we needed to move forward.  Our entire packet has been handed over to the director of Hope's Promise for her to review.  Once she has looked everything over (probably mid to late next week), we will be getting a call to schedule our first home study interview. It's starting to become real to us!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

One Step Closer

This past week we moved forward a step!  We finally received our Colorado Springs local background check.  It was supposed to take only 5 weeks for processing but ours was received after about a 7 week wait.  If there's one thing we are learning on this journey, it is patience!  This was the last item on our checklist we needed to get done before we could turn our whole packet of paperwork into the agency.  On Wednesday, we checked and double checked everything in our pile to make sure it was all complete.  This includes our autobiographies, financial statements, questionnaires, doctors reports, insurance information and much more.  Being the anal person that I am, and not completely trusting USPS, I personally delivered our paperwork to the agency!  It wasn't necessarily that I thought it would get processed that much sooner if I delivered it. I just couldn't imagine what we would do if this precious package, full of so many hours of work, got lost in the mail!  After reviewing our paperwork, the agency called to let us know that it was all complete and everything looked good.  The last thing we need to move forward are the FBI fingerprint clearances.  These typically take anywhere from 6-12 weeks to be completed and we are now approaching 8 weeks.  Once the agency receives our fingerprints, they will call us to schedule our home study interviews.   We are hopeful they will be calling us any day!

Right now we are appreciating the break from adoption paperwork and  just enjoying normal life.  Please pray for our fingerprints to come back quickly and for patience for the wait!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Grateful

Throughout the past couple weeks with celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approaching we've had many thoughts running through our minds. First, we are so completely grateful for our family and friends who have been such an amazing support to us throughout our journey of infertility and now with our adoption. This road is not always an easy one and we are so blessed to have these people by our side to encourage and pray for us. Secondly, we feel such an amazing joy for the excitement God has given us for adoption. It is such a blessing that God has chosen us to adopt a child into our family just as He adopted us into His. This journey has already been a life changing experience and we know it's only going to get better!

So as Christmas approaches, we are thrilled for the joy He has put in our hearts and the opportunities He has entrusted us with. At a time when it's so easy to loose track of the real meaning of the season, we are grateful. Grateful for what He has done for us and how He continues to take care of His children. Grateful for the peace and joy He has put in our hearts, and last but definitely not least, for the baby that will be joining our family!

Please don't be offended if you don't receive a Christmas card from us this year. We have decided to take the year off and focus our time, energy and money on our adoption. Merry Christmas!

Blessings,
Karl and Amy