onward

Our home study is d-o-n-e! At least our part of the process is, anyway. Ashley has a month or two of work ahead of her in creating the 20-page document that will be the final product, but our interviews and information gathering are finished. We met with her together on March 16 at Broadmoor Baptist for our third and final interview while my mom was here visiting from Florida to play with Ezekiel & Eden. Ashley asked us what we had learned through our adoption education, a VERY broad question, and if we had been smart we'd have written down some talking points because we knew ahead of time that this would be the topic at hand. Things had been a little crazy that week and we were just glad to have made it to the meeting, but we knew that we had completed all the required education plus some and that hopefully throughout the course of our conversation she would be able to tell that we had truly internalized the key points of the Hague training, the adoption clinic seminar, and the book. Fortunately, we seemed to convince her by the end of the meeting that we had sufficiently educated ourselves about potential medical, developmental, cultural and other issues and were ready to take the next step toward welcoming an institutionalized child into our family. We also gave her the second and final installment of $750.

 We're wondering when the hard part will come because we keep envisioning mountains of paperwork being thrown at us, but it hasn't happened yet. The dossier process sounds like it will come in the form of a checklist, and that's what's next, in answer to the question we've been asked (and we've asked ourselves) most frequently since we finished the interviews. It's amazing to look back over the last few months and see how God has guided our every decision and given us the guidance, wisdom and discernment we asked of Him. Yesterday Beth called (she always calls at precisely the perfect time, which I can't really say of anyone else since our 2 precious blessings usually have a monopoly on my attention when the phone rings), and it was wonderful to update her on the progress we'd made since we last talked. She prays for us and is always so excited to hear what's going on with us. Last time I talked to her at the end of February, I felt very overwhelmed by the medical forms and told her something to the effect that we wouldn't be willing or able to accept any children with HIV or Hepatitis, and that I just didn't think we could look at another health form (we had filled out only one, but it was an intense one). In the course of just a little over a month, we researched these conditions and many others and completed another "child desired form" with great confidence that the LORD directed each and every check mark, including the ones marking our ultimate willingness to accept children with HIV and Hepatitis.

 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." - James 1:5

We've asked many of our friends to pray for us in filling out those specific forms, and God is so very faithful to give us wisdom each and every time we ask! Thank you to everyone who's prayed for us or for Isaiah...LORD willing, you will see him one day and see the answer to your prayers for this precious former orphan!

So far, by some quick calculations, it looks like we've spent $4,377.59 on the adoption. When our home study document is completed, we'll owe another $2062.50 to Lifeline.

One thing we're getting taken care of a little earlier than planned is my passport. Looks like this summer I'll have the opportunity to go to Guatemala for one week with the organization Orphan's Heart and a group from Broadmoor! This will be my first time out of the country, and I'm super excited to spend one short week of my life at an orphanage loving on orphans in Jesus' name. I also think it will be beneficial to visit an orphanage before our Peru trip, maybe to minimize some potential shock or at least prepare my heart for what I'll see when Mason and I go to pick up Isaiah (and possible sibling). Mason would have liked to go too, but he's kindly allowing and supporting my going while he stays with Ezekiel and Eden. God dropped this trip right into my lap just days before the sign-up deadline, and He also gave me the confirmation I asked for the day I asked for it! When a friend stopped by my house to pick something up after dinner, she looked me straight in the eye when I mentioned that I was tossing around the idea of this trip and told me to go inside, fill out and turn in my application NOW (Rachel, thanks for letting God speak through you). The trip dates are June 23-30.


You may remember from my last post that Kari Jobe was sold out at LifeWay a few weeks ago, a fact that Ezekiel spoke about solemnly for days afterward. I'm not sure exactly what he thought that meant - maybe that something bad had happened to her - but he was thrilled when we checked back last week and found that her CD stock had been replenished. Ezekiel LOVES Kari Jobe. I do too, so I think he has great taste. I'm still addicted to Aaron Shust's album, but Kari has supplied a host of new songs for me to constantly be singing (in Heaven, I'll sing like her). The new album is called "Where I Find You" - I actually didn't register that fact until Ezekiel told me - and it a musical celebration of Jesus' presence in our lives! We highly recommend it. Ezekiel recommends it for falling asleep and for background music during monster truck play, specifically. 

God's freshest Word for my days lately:

"He will be the sure foundation for your times, 
   a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; 
   the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure." - Isaiah 33:6