What?

Life is moving at a hundred miles an hour right now. The holidays always bring a quicker paced life, but now that we are excited about all of this adopted stuff, it feels like we are in over-drive. Who knew that every single person in Santa Fe would be at the post office each of the three times I have gone in the past two days? I was just trying to send off our fingerprints and some paperwork. What in the heck where they doing there?
I've wanted to post since Saturday night but thing after thing has kept me from getting it done.
The biggest news as of right now is that we were given about 20% of our monetary need for this adoption this weekend! Wow. That made it possible to send our paperwork back into our agency. I was preparing myself to have to be patient for a lot longer. God is really going before us and preparing the way. It was three donors that gave us money and we had not asked any of them for anything! (I want to get a little fundraising thermometer on my blog, but I haven't figured that out yet.) We were also given enough American Airlines miles for all of the trips we will need to take to Honduras. What? Yes.
We are working on home study paperwork right now. Jonathan and I were both fingerprinted yesterday. Then we got a request for a background check notarized and sent all of that information in. Those are the documents that will take "one to three months" to complete. :) And our home study won't be complete without them. So, that is out of our hands now.
I emailed the home study agency this morning and she said that we are on track and the first week of January they will call us to schedule our home visits.
We met with the owner of the ranch we work for this weekend and she wanted to be sure that our garage passed the home study test (among other things), so she told Jonathan to get one of the ranch workers to start cleaning and organizing our garage!! Wow, that was a load off.  I clean out our garage every 3 or 4 months. And over that time the stuff just piles up. It was rather bad yesterday morning, but since it was muddy out, Jonathan had two ranch workers come over and they knocked it out quickly. It looks fabulous. Thank you boss and thank you Lord. Who has a boss that not only lets us have the best job in the world (no exaggeration) but also takes care of us in real tangible ways? Crazy amazing days.
I feel like I could write for another hour but I need to pack for our trip to see family. We are leaving tomorrow morning and we have the ranch Christmas dinner tonight. I have about 2.5 hours to get the rest of the laundry done and pack for 5 people for 8 days. No sweat.

FBI here we come

We got our first packet of information from Adoptions Plus (our homestudy agency). Hooah. Thirty pages of digging in. And I finished it all yesterday. It arrived in my inbox at 1:47pm and I finished up at midnight. Love this. There were a lot of intense questions and there were a lot of questions that I felt like I needed to make up something. Our marriage has been great since day one. There were questions about our biggest problems and our most terrible crisis and our most recent argument. Well, I could tell them about our most recent argument, but we've never gone through a crisis and we have never had a big problems. We agree on 99.9% of parenting issues. We enjoy each other tremendously. But, I feel like they are going to think I am making it all up! Like my marriage is out of some fairytale. But it is the truth. And the truth will win out.
We now need to go get our fingerprints done for our FBI, state, and CYFD clearances. A note in the directions says, "they take about one to three months." Wow. Could they narrow that down a bit more? Oh well. That is why we are going to take care of it quickly. I will probably go today when I take the kids to piano lessons. Now, I need to light a fire under Jonathan. He has finished the easier questionnaire and said he doesn't think he will get this fingerprints done while in town today. Umm. We'll have to see about that. I need to think of a good bribe. Is that something I should put in the questionnaire? That I bribe my husband to get what I want? I did admit to not being flexible.

There

We sent in our home study application on Friday. It should have gotten to Albuquerque today. I have no idea, really, what the home study process will be like. I've heard before. But I think it is one of those things that you just don't get until you are there. There are things in life that people who are there try to explain to people who aren't there and all you can do is nod your head and think "well, it was tough for you but I don't see why, if only you........it will be different for us." Have you had any of those moments? Probably not, but I have. I'm sure several women tried to tell me how hard labor and nursing were going to be. But, gosh, God created us to do it right? How can it be that hard? Come on. That was my attitude...until I was there. And all of those nuggets of wisdom were lost in the oh-my-gosh-why-didn't-anyone-tell-me-it-would-be-this-hard moment.
Well, I know several people who have had home studies done. And I know I was around while they were doing theirs and I know I asked about it. But, I'll say it again, I really have no idea what it is going to be like. I'm not fretting though. If the whole process goes like I feel about it today, then it should be good, uplifting, optimistic, not easy, but not torture. I like paperwork. And I can be a drill Sergent to my husband who is a bit more easy going than me. About four months ago, he said "We were going to make a great adoption team. I am going to be inspired and you are going to make it happen." :) Well, honey, it's time. And no you can't have your eggs until you put your initials on every one of those 37 X marks. Love you. ;)
Yes, I said that on Wednesday to my dear husband. And it worked. He likes his eggs hot and I like getting paperwork done as quickly as possible. We are going to make a great team. Oh, and he asked for it.
All joking aside though, I can't imagine a better partner in this. And a better lot of children. The kids pray for their new brothers and sisters all the time and talk about them like they will be here soon. And my husband, well, most of you know that I am head over heals for him and make most of our friends uncomfortable because I can always sing his praises. But gosh, we wouldn't be doing this without him. He has heard God speak and is walking head-on in faith. This isn't a first either. That is how we got to New Mexico. God directed him to go and he brought us here. And it has been amazing. The job thing is a little different, I guess. It was his dream job. A private ranch. Wildlife habitat development. In the Rockies. Okay. There were a few emotional downsides and the fact that most of the U.S. Americans don't even realize that NM is one of the 50 states. But the adoption has a few more open ends. We don't know where they have been and what they have seen and what they haven't had. But we know that God knows. And Jonathan has been inspired by the Creator of the Universe. And I have too.
We can't say no. We can't drag our feet. They are our children. They need to be here. They need to be fought for and protected. And they need hugs. Daily. Lots of them. So we walk forward in faith. And it is so nice when your feelings are on board with faith's direction. Lord, keep us grounded and seeking you. Make our paths straight and our eyes fixed.

He's Got This

I'm shocked at how little I am "worrying" about the adoption process. Maybe it is my uncanny ability to NOT see what could go wrong. That's not really my thing. I don't want to worry about what is ahead. What will that accomplish? I live in the here and now. And right now things are rolling and I've just got to keep up, which IS one of my strong points. I can tell I'm going to like the adoption process when I'm filling out paperwork and crossing things off my list. It's going to be tough when I'm just sitting and waiting and thinking an waiting.
But, that isn't happening right now, so I don't need to worry myself about that.
Anyway, yesterday I made sure all of our i's were dotted and t's crossed with the AWAA paperwork and was ready to send it in. But then I realized that we need a big check to go along with it. (And again, it had been tucked away in my mind that we needed money, but it wasn't time for that yet, so I hadn't spent my little left-over energy on it.) And since it is Christmas time here at the Grassmick house, we can't just write that check because expenses always rise this time of year and it would be a little irresponsible. So, it dawned on me that we have to get to raising money. That is how we always planned on funding our adoption. We know that God has asked us to house and raise and invest in these children daily and that He will raise up the funds to do it. I know some of you out there are rolling your eyes thinking that we are something else thinking that other people should pay for our choices. Why would we embark on a $30,000 journey without saving that money up? Well, good point. It doesn't make a lot of sense. But I feel like it is what God has asked us to do. Maybe this is one way God wants to be glorified in this. Maybe I'm just naive. Maybe I'm just dumb. But, I really believe He wants us to walk forward in this and marvel at how He provides. Not everyone has been asked to take in orphans. We all can't do it all. We just have to do our part. And we NM Grassmicks have been asked to be a family to them and maybe some of you can't do that, or more importantly, God hasn't asked you to do that. But maybe you can play a part in our kids having what is called a forever family.
Anyway, I kind of got off track there. I was writing today to document how faithful God is.
So, yesterday, when I was really busy getting stuff done, God was already working. I hadn't stopped to talk to God specifically about the check we need to write. Don't get me wrong. I have been a praying manic about this adoption, but remember I had only realized earlier in the day that we need funds. I talked to Him a lot yesterday, but more about our H kids and their needs being met and that there would be someone to hug them, not so much for the money yet. So, I sat down last night and started to try to make it work in my head. I quickly remembered how that never works...because I couldn't make it work. And within a few minutes Jonathan came in and said that some friends of ours had sent him a Facebook message asking if we had an adoption fund yet because they had some end of the year giving money left over and wanted to give it to us.  .   .   .   . WHAT? Had she read my last blog post that mentioned briefly that we needed some money? No, I just posted that minutes ago. And she doesn't know about my blog!! Did I mention anything to her recently? No, I haven't seen her much.
Ohhhhhhh, God.
God knew.
God knew we needed money AND He knew I needed to be reminded that He's got this.
I don't know how much they are going to give. It could be one dollar or it could be one million. But, it doesn't matter. Because He's got this.

Step by Step

This past weekend I was in Dallas visiting my family and friends and so I wasn't able to look at all the attachments that were sent to us when we were accepted. But now I've been home for 24 hours and I am stoked. I'm sure this excitement will wear off soon enough but I'm going to ride this wave while it is here. I have printed about 50 pages of agency documents. I have signed my name and/or initials probably 75 times and I am ready to send it all back. The next steps are to return all of this paperwork to the agency which is basically legal sign offs and payment agreements. But, we've got to come up with a chunk of money first to send in with our paperwork.
The next step after submitting the paperwork is getting a homestudy. Most of you probably know what a homestudy is, but for those of you who are new to this, here is a definition I found online:

The adoption homestudy is a detailed written report of your family compiled and prepared by a social worker. This can take three to six months to finish. The adoption homestudy requires the prospective adoptive family to gather different documents, answer several questions, and explore their reasons for adopting. Through a series of visits and interviews the social worker can get a complete picture of who you are and what life is like in your family.

So last night, I also chose the agency who will conduct our homestudy. NM doesn't have an office for our agency so we have select another company to do this for us. I am taking the advice of some friends who adopted from Rwanda with our agency 2 years ago. They used Adoptions Plus in Albuquerque. I checked out their website and felt an instant peace about using them. I printed off another 25 pages of paperwork and we signed our names some more. Tomorrow we have to make a trip to Las Vegas and request Local Criminal Record Checks for both of us. We need our DL, our SS# and $1 cash...each. I think we can handle this one. After we get the record checks back (I have no idea if we will walk away with it or if there will be a wait) we will be able to turn in our home study application and paperwork. Then, I think the REAL paperwork will begin.
I just realized that I still haven't named our agency! I didn't want to name them until we were accepted. So, we are going with AWAA, American World Adoption Agency. They are based in Virgina and have been great so far.
Another big step that we are about to make is announcing our intentions to our family and friends. I finished our Christmas letter today and will send out the majority of them tomorrow.
This thing is really rolling. I love it.

12.2.11

I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to get this in print... We received an email from Sara from our agency congratulating us on our acceptance into their Honduras adoption program!!!!!!!! Yea! I really haven't had much time just to sit back and process it yet. I've been on the go since I read the email. I just talked to Jonathan and he said he talked with Sara earlier. She called the house to let us know. Then he tried to call me but I didn't hear the phone ring. I told some family and friends (that were here tonight) and thought they knew before he did, but I guess he had us beat. :) Today is definitely a new, good start date (like I talked about in a previous post). December 2, 2011. 12.2.11. I'm going to remember this date. Thanks to the few who have known this little (big) secret of ours up to this point and who have prayed for this step. I need to read all of the eleven attachments she sent me in the email and figure out what is next. I'm sure I will be blogging more. At least for a while. We hopefully will broadcast this soon to all we know. Please be praying for the communication of this to those we know and love. Also, please pray for our little ones. For our hearts and theirs. For their health and safety and anything else that comes to mind. I'm so excited to figure out who these kids are. Lord, be with them in a special way until we can get them.

Bigger Than The Big

Yesterday was a bad day. I was so frazzled about this letter from my doctor that life just felt...I don't know....yuck. And then I was thinking, "If I can't handle the waiting right now...and we aren't even accepted yet, how can I do this for up to two years?????" I prayed a lot. I read my Bible a lot. Jonathan prayed for me. I told the kids to pray for the doctor.
I didn't shut down as a mother completely. We made pinch pot turkeys out of clay and did some oil pastel turkeys and read from The Mayflower Compact and ended the night with a Mickey Mouse puzzle. Plus, we did our "3 days until Thanksgiving Prep" cooking and oh, we made our annual Thanksgiving tree. I'm actually pretty impressed now that I see all that written down. On the inside though, I was a wreck. But the Lord sustained me. I went to bed hopeful of a different kind of day.
When I awoke this morning, it didn't really feel different. But as my father-in-law used to chant cheerfully each morning...Feet on the floor!!! It's a good day!!! I knew I had to just start moving.
Another thing that was eating away at me yesterday was that I forgot to pick up my prescription in town on Sunday when we were there. I HATE WHEN I DO THAT. I thought I was going to have a stay-at-home kind of week and now I had to pack up my kids and spend $15 on gas to go pick up meds that were, in my mind, keeping me from finishing this application process with our agency because I didn't have this letter from my doc. Arrrrggggg. I wanted to be working on my "2 days until Thanksgiving Prep" cooking and painting the pinch pot turkeys from the day before. As I was typing I realized I could go on and on about all the things that happen yesterday to make today really daunting when I was trying to get out of bed, so I will jump to something happier.
I grabbed my phone before I got up and saw an email from a friend whom I have labeled my Adoption Cheerleader (you know who you are). It was a pep-talk for the day and permission to have bad, hard days. It really was just what I needed. I called Jonathan and he offered to go to town for me. So sweet. So, I asked him if he would just let my rambunctious, has-so-much-energy-he-could-burst 6 year old stay with him for the day and I would get the things on his list. And he agreed. By this point, I was smiling a bit more. Then on my way to town, I ended up dropping my oldest at her bff's house to play for the day. Wow. Down to half of the children. I didn't get too excited though because we had a LONG list of places to hit.
But everything changed as we were loading up the car after the first stop. The kids were buckling in and my phone rang. And it was the call I had been waiting for!!
My doc.
And the letter was ready.
Wow.
I told her I would be there in just a little bit and said, "Thank you SO MUCH." The "so much" seemed to give her a little giggle, but I was HAPPY and SO THANKFUL. My eyes filled tears. And it felt like I could breath again. Life was going to be okay. (Of coarse life was going to be okay. I knew that but it sure didn't feel like it.) I pushed all errands back and headed to her office. I called my honey and I called my cheerleader. God had provided. Duh. He always does. And if that wasn't enough, He wowed me with a few more "little" things today.
He is bigger than the big things and He is bigger than the small things. And He doesn't want just to mark things off His list and be done with us. He wants to wow us. Thank You, Lord.
Here's to one more baby step in the right direction, as said by my friend Laura when I picked up my oldest on the way home.

Not In My Hands

I heard from Sara today..from our agency. She said we are still in the application process. As soon as she gets the letter from my doctor then she can submit our application for final approval. (I need the letter because I'm take certain meds. My doc needs to verify that I am basically not insane.) So, that means we are waiting on my doctor. They have a hard time getting my refills called in on time, so I'm a little worried...worried is not the word, but I can't think of a better one right now...that this might take a while. I requested the letter on Tuesday. I'm praying and I'm asking you to pray that she will get the letter done tomorrow.
I was in town today and wanted to stop in her office and just follow up. I didn't know whether I should be still and wait on the Lord (and pray my hiney off) or if I should actively pursue (and pray my hiney off). I drove past her office a couple of times but never felt like I got a green light to stop in. It's hard to discern those things. I think I'm going to call tomorrow morning just to ask if my doc has any questions.
I enjoyed my conversations with the Lord today. I know He hears me. And I want to hear Him.
His time. It will happen in His time.

Rewind

I started this blog post last Saturday and life has just gotten away from me. I thought about just scraping it, but God was at work and I want that documented. So, from last Saturday...
Each morning for the past week, I have woken up and grabbed my phone hoping to find an email from the agency and to no avail. On Friday morning, it was no different. And I started to throw a mini pity party. Not out loud or visibly but in my heart and head. After I fed the kids breakfast, I hopped in the shower. While in there I prayed that God would let me know that something, anything was happening...Oh, and TODAY....Please. Later the whole fam was in the car, driving to pick up our goats from the breeding farm (yes, we will have maybe 4 new goat kids in April). I was telling Jonathan about my pity party in the shower and my phone dinged with an email. IT WAS FROM HER!!!! Her is Sara. She is the Intake Director with our agency. Here is her first line...
"It was great to receive your full application!  I am excited to move forward with you in the application process."
Yea!!!! I'm not clear on if we are full-blown accepted or if we are just moving forward in deciding if we are accepted but it is a step in the right direction.
The greatest piece of all of this is that God is working and answering. And He cares about me. I KNOW He has told us to do this but I don't know the ending. Only He does. My friends recently adopted and started down the foster to adopt path and then ended up adopting from a crisis pregnancy. Amazing. A friend of a friend started down the local adoption path and ended up getting their son from Uganda. Amazing. I don't know if we all hope that our made-up ending is the right one. But we do. Lord, we would love a sibling set from Honduras...Oh, and by 2012....Please.

Bad Radio

So, I think I have mentioned a couple of times that God has confirmed to us that adoption is for us and Honduras is the place. The last confirmation Jonathan received before we began the process was a little strange. Jonathan was doing paperwork in his office and was listening to one of his favorite radio shows: Bad Radio with Bob and Dan. It is on The Ticket, the sports talk radio station in Dallas. Jonathan listens to it with an app on his phone or over the World Wide Web. It's really not the place he thinks to go when he wants to hear from God, if you know what I mean. But, we have learned that God will use just about anything. Here is the link to Bob Sturm's blog post that he was talking about that morning on the radio. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Bob had just gotten back from picking up his adopted son from Honduras.

File Folder

I'm not sure what I'm going to write about tonight, but I felt like I should. A couple of people have asked me if there was anything new. There's not. The agency said it would be around 10 business days. That means around November 15 we should hear from them. I do hope it is before then.
I've prayed for our unknown kids a lot today. I do wonder how many there are. And whether it will be boys or girls or both. I prayed that they will have a peace from God that they will be kept together. That being separated from their siblings won't weigh heavy on their hearts. I also prayed that someone who has contact with them knows Jesus. And talks about Him. I hope there are happy moments in their days like playing outside and laughing with others and getting a hug.
Jonathan and I were talking recently and he made a great point. He said that our new children should feel so at home with other kids in the house. They have probably lived in an orphanage and are used to friends around. It might feel weird being the only little ones around. I can't wait to see our kids love on their new siblings.
I bought an accordion file folder today. A friend who has adopted internationally told me to get one before the paperwork starts piling up. I picked one that is small enough to travel with but has 13 slots. I think I'm excited about it because it is the first real object I can hold that has anything to do with the adoption. I like truth to have form. Form enough to touch and hold. I guess I'm going from a file folder to hopefully real live kids. God's kids. Our kids. Can't wait.

I did it...

So I did it. It is out of my hands…until they ask for the next thing. It made me smile, hitting send. We will see what tomorrow holds.

Live Now

So, it’s been a week of just about nothing. I’ve been praying about the adoption a lot and thinking about it, but not much on-the-ground work has been accomplished. I have been waiting on a break down of our compensation package from the ranch accountant. The first time I emailed him last week I didn’t hear back from him. I didn’t want to be THAT person that can’t wait my turn in line so I waited two days until I sent a follow up email asking if he got my first one. He didn’t. It went into his junk folder. So I feel like it was two days wasted but that breaks from the idea that God is in the details. Anyway, I got the awaited document this morning and quickly forwarded it to the agency to make sure we pass. And we did. And all I wanted to do was drop everything and fill out the application. But, life happens and I don’t want to miss now. So, the kids and I worked on school, made some homemade tomato sauce from some of the last of our crop, baked rolls for dinner, and most importantly I made good on the promise of carving pumpkins. I gathered the kids out front and cut the heads off their pumpkins. I read The Parable of the Pumpkin Patch to them which turns carving pumpkins into something very spiritual. They scraped out the pulp, which of coarse, parallels with our yucky sin. And we had a fun time separating the seeds from the pulp and getting them ready for daddy. Daddy is the all-time best pumpkin seed roaster. When he got home he made his secret pumpkin seed sauce, and we ate our soup and rolls and read a story on angels and then strolled up to the goats as a family. We talked about gravity and mass and light and how fast we are moving on this revolving and orbiting planet. Then after we wandered back in the dark, we drew faces on our pumpkins, carved them, and set the light to shine from them…another spiritual inference . When we finished with our picture taking, the pumpkin seeds were done so we had a bedtime snack.
If I would have sat in the recliner all evening filling out the application, which is what I thought I wanted to do, then I would have missed all of that. I’m glad I chose to live now. The application still got filled out and I am only waiting on a response from BlueCross BlueShield letting me know if they will cover our adopted children as they did our biological ones. Hopefully sometime tomorrow I will hit send. It seems like that is another “start date” for this adoption. One could argue that the start date was back in 1995 when God revealed to my husband that he would someday have Honduran children. Or maybe last spring when God stirred it in his heart again. Or maybe the day I picked an agency. Or maybe tomorrow when I send this application off. No…The day we hear from them that we are accepted as their clients I think will be the official start date. But, I’m sure there will be at least a few more start dates. Like the date our dossier is finished and sent to Honduras, or the day we get the call with picture of our kids, or the day we get to meet them, or the day we bring them home. I guess all of those dates are a start to something. I really have no idea what we are getting into here. I can’t wait to see the ending. I wonder what date that will be.

First Contact

I got a call from Johnna today from our agency. Well, it’s not our agency yet, but hopefully soon. Anyway, she is the Honduras contact and just wanted to answer any questions we might have. I’m pretty excited about the call. It was nice to connect, which feels a little weird. Anyone that knows me knows that I’m not really into talking on the phone, especially with strangers. But, it was good. I’m pretty sure I prayed as the phone was ringing but even if I didn’t request grace right then, God knew my heart and He knows my silly issues. And He provided. So, the best information that I got from the call was that Jonathan would only HAVE to be in Honduras for about a week for the second trip. Let me back up a bit. The requirements for adopting from Honduras are that we have to travel there twice. The first trip is 5 to 7 days long and we both have to go. Then we wait at home 2 to 4 months. Then we both have to travel back. All that I have read states that we have to be there for 6 weeks. I thought that meant both of us. But Johnna said that only one of us has to stay there the entire six weeks. Jonathan would only have to been there for the first week. Wow. That is such a relief. I don’t really want to be in a foreign country with new children alone but it means that we can do it. I am still praying that Jonathan will be able to be there the entire time. I think it would be better for the children…and me. But then again, I guess I should leave that up to the Lord. It would be better for us to get these kids here whether we all get to pick them up or not. So, I think we will get a move on. I feel like I should be nervous or something. Maybe that will come. But for now, I’m just excited.

Just the Beginning

A couple of weeks ago I filled out a pre-application with the agency I want to go with. The website said that I would get a response within three business days. Well, on day 14 I realized that I hadn’t heard back. So, I sent an email to ask about this. This was two days ago. A Thursday. And by the way, Thursday is my absolute favorite day of the week. Anyway, Thursday was a crazy day. I was in town most of the day running from here to there trying to fit in 8 hours worth of errands into 4.5. So, by the time I arrived at church and sent my kids into Pioneer Clubs and dropped into my chair at a book study on One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp, I was spent. And as I picked up my phone to silence it for the meeting, I noticed I had a few emails. And one was from our agency. So, I clicked on it without even thinking about it. I should have waited. I was excited. But, the email stated that the agency had some concerns. AHHHHH! Right before my book study!!!! I should have waited. Anyway, I finally read the email as my kids piled into my tiny SUV an hour and a half later. They were concerned on two fronts. One, was our income. She said that the USCIS has a minimum annual salary that families have to make if they want to adopt. For a family of 6, we were short $242. Wow. (By the way, I had to Google USCIS.) And number two was that I am on an anti-depressant for PMDD. I’m not depressed and don’t think I have ever been but I am MOODY monthly, if you know what I mean. I struggled with this for years and tried tons of home remedies, but nothing worked and I finally went to the doc and asked what my options where. And three years later, I haven’t regretted it for a second. But, now the thought of it keeping us from adoption is hard. My meds have keep me more level then I have felt in a decade or more. It’s good. I know the Lord knows that and He is in control of all things. That is what I have to hang on to. It just feels weird to be judge for something that you prayed hard about and think is the right thing to do. Oh well. It’s not the first time…or the last.
After driving home I sat down at the computer and emailed the agency our fix for the income thing. Our monthly income is only part of our salary package. Our house and utilities, phone and truck, among a lot of other things are included in our compensation package. So, now I had to wait…just overnight. The agency got back to me mid-Friday morning. The next email had good news. The good news is that USCIS takes our entire compensation package into account. Victory. The agency, also said that the meds shouldn’t be that big of a deal as long as my doc gives the thumbs up. So, it was one of those 12 hour periods that I just had to wait it out and see how God was going to work. I know 12 hours is nothing compared to the waiting I’m going to have to do during this process. This is just the beginning.

Last Duck

So, we aren’t very far into the process of adopting even though we have been thinking about it and praying about it for a long time. But, right now we are in the middle of deciding on an agency, which I think I have found, and getting all of our ducks in a row before turning in the application. To adopt from Honduras you must be able to take two trips there. The first trip will be 7 to 10 days long and the second trip is a 6 week trip. Yes, a 6 week trip. Who can do that? It is such a bummer that little ones aren’t finding families because average people can’t take 6 weeks off of work. So, that is our “last duck” so to say. We need to talk with the boss and make sure that is something we can do. A culmination of things gives me hope that our answer will be yes. First, and oh so simple, is that God is good. He has asked us to do this and He promises that if we trust in Him and lean not on our own understanding, that He will make our paths straight. My own understanding tells me that asking for 6 weeks off is ridiculous, but that is not what I am leaning on. And second, our boss is amazing. And she is our boss for a reason. She has an adopted granddaughter and she loves the Lord and she is amazingly generous. But all that to say, it still makes be a bit woozy in the mean time. Our boss is out of town so we have to wait. I’m not good at waiting. (No chuckling, please.) I live in the moment. I make decisions quickly and run full blast to achieve them. But, I am being told to wait. What do you do while you wait? Well, I’m going to pray and read and talk about it to who ever will listen and hope that time will fly by.

Room at La Posada

In 1995 God impressed upon my husband that he would adopt an orphan. When we married in 2000 I had no hesitations about that, we agreed though that the timing wasn’t right yet. We have talked about it through the years and had four biological children. But, there is still Room at the Inn…La Posada. Room at La Posada. I have faith that our journey will be God’s journey for us. We are trying to seek Him and can’t wait to meet any other children He has for us in His time. But I know we will need support along the way and that is where you come in. If you think of us pray for us. If you have wisdom for us, please share. I’ll try to keep you up to date on logistics and I’ll also just share what is running through my mind. Hope to hear from you.