Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers
Monday, October 31, 2011
Awareness Interview
Well it's Halloween and we've had a wonderful evening with all of the trick-or-treaters and not to mention the "Awareness Interview" with our Placing Agency, Tree of Life. It was such a wonderful conversation with the agency that made Dustin and I feel so comfortable. They basically reviewed everything from fees, to expectations, the children, post adoption issues, and the Dossier process. We heard some emotional stories about children after leaving the orphanage and some encouraging words from Kay. Every day we get more and more excited about this process. We just can't believe we are blessed enough to be a part of the adoption world. Our next biggest thing will be our Homestudy Interview on November 8th which we are anxiously awaiting. We continue to work on our paperwork for the Homestudy Agency and will be starting our Agreement with our placing agency soon! The paperwork almost seems to drown you but I just keep reminding myself what it will bring our family! We pray for our daughter every night and all other families going through this process. You never truly know the attachment you can have to a child you've never even met until you begin this process. It's such an incredible feeling!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
How We Got Here
So it's pretty obvious that we are starting this blog a few weeks into this process. Hopefully this post will help you get up to date with everything that's happened so far!
As Dustin and I began to pray about what country and agency we would use, we easily narrowed down our options because we were only qualified for a couple of countries because of our age and how long we had been married (every country has different restrictions). Our hearts initially settled on Ukraine. We were smitten with the beautiful children and just knew this country was for us. We were at our church service on Sunday October 9th and Dustin and I both felt we needed to really just ask God for clear direction. So we did that, and boy did He answer immediately. That following day I called the agency which I believed would be our placing agency only to find out Ukraine had passed a new law that children had to be 5 years old before they could be adopted internationally. We had asked for clear direction and God provided it. We immediately knew Ukraine was not the country God had for us. After some prayer God started giving us a heart for the children of Bulgaria. This would turn out to be the country we chose. Choosing an agency was a little bit more difficult. Initially it seemed pretty easy and we chose with no problems. Unfortunately there were a few unnerving things that made our spirits uneasy and we decided to look elsewhere for another agency. After searching online and doing some research we settled with Tree of Life, Inc in Oregon. My favorite part was that Kay our consultant had three Bulgarian children of her own, and really seemed to know so much about the process.
So here we are, We have an Awareness Interview scheduled for tomorrow which covers any questions we may have and all risks associated with the adoption process. We also are working on the paperwork for our homestudy. Our first Homestudy Interview is November 8th and we are excited about that also! God is just giving confirmation one right after another.
A dear sister in our church even dreamed that she was holding a sweet baby girl that was ours. She shared this with me last sunday and the best part was she had no idea about the adoption. Only our immediate family did! It is wonderful how God is using other people to reassure us about this adoption.
We feel so blessed to be on this journey and are looking forward to the end when we can bring our beautiful Bulgarian baby girl home!
As Dustin and I began to pray about what country and agency we would use, we easily narrowed down our options because we were only qualified for a couple of countries because of our age and how long we had been married (every country has different restrictions). Our hearts initially settled on Ukraine. We were smitten with the beautiful children and just knew this country was for us. We were at our church service on Sunday October 9th and Dustin and I both felt we needed to really just ask God for clear direction. So we did that, and boy did He answer immediately. That following day I called the agency which I believed would be our placing agency only to find out Ukraine had passed a new law that children had to be 5 years old before they could be adopted internationally. We had asked for clear direction and God provided it. We immediately knew Ukraine was not the country God had for us. After some prayer God started giving us a heart for the children of Bulgaria. This would turn out to be the country we chose. Choosing an agency was a little bit more difficult. Initially it seemed pretty easy and we chose with no problems. Unfortunately there were a few unnerving things that made our spirits uneasy and we decided to look elsewhere for another agency. After searching online and doing some research we settled with Tree of Life, Inc in Oregon. My favorite part was that Kay our consultant had three Bulgarian children of her own, and really seemed to know so much about the process.
So here we are, We have an Awareness Interview scheduled for tomorrow which covers any questions we may have and all risks associated with the adoption process. We also are working on the paperwork for our homestudy. Our first Homestudy Interview is November 8th and we are excited about that also! God is just giving confirmation one right after another.
A dear sister in our church even dreamed that she was holding a sweet baby girl that was ours. She shared this with me last sunday and the best part was she had no idea about the adoption. Only our immediate family did! It is wonderful how God is using other people to reassure us about this adoption.
We feel so blessed to be on this journey and are looking forward to the end when we can bring our beautiful Bulgarian baby girl home!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
God's Calling
From the very beginning Dustin and I knew children would be in our future. As we began teaching a Sunday School class of 6-9 year old children in our church, the passion for kids grew and grew. Dustin and I both have a heart for international missions and shortly after we were married God began to transform that into a heart for international adoption. A lot of prayer, talking about our future family, and speaking with close friends lead to our decision to begin this crazy but incredible adoption process. We welcome our family and friends to follow along with us for what I'm sure will be a roller coaster ride over the next few years. All of your prayers, encouragement, and even questions are welcomed! We have both been so blessed with such incredible people and family in our lives and we are thrilled at the opportunity to provide that for one of God's orphaned children.
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