Homestudy and Home Tour

I am so excited that tomorrow is our first homestudy visit! Of course, we've been cleaning like crazy people. I want to really thank my mama for coming and organizing our laundry room! (Plus doing a ton of other things!) We would really appreciate if y'all would pray that our visit goes well. I'll be so happy when we get done with our homestudy, because we'll be ready for that referral!

Since we have such a clean house and have to send in pictures for our homestudy, I thought I'd share the pictures of the house with y'all too.

Front of the house: 

Back of the house:

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Soon to be Nursery!: 

Guest Bathroom:

Study:

* I took these with my phone, so they're not great! I think you can tell, though, that we love color! Oh, almost forgot --- we do have a master bedroom and bath too, but I haven't taken those pictures yet. 

Overwhelmed

This week I have felt so overwhelmed . . . . by so many things.

At times, the loss of my grandfather is so overwhelming to me that tears stream down my face.

Sometimes I wonder how my classroom got so disorganized and when I will find the time to reorganize it.

While I can see the light with the end of my grad school classes in July, I believe this semester may be the most challenging yet.

In the midst of trying to complete grad school papers, now I have a mound of paperwork to complete for the adoption.

BUT - I have also felt overwhelmed by the response of all of our family, coworkers, Wesley students, friends, and church members to our adoption news. Everyone has been so excited and willing to support us! It has overwhelmed me a beautiful way. To be honest, I was hesitant to spread the news because I didn't know how people would react. While I feel confident that God is calling us to this, I didn't know what other people would think. I know that we will run into people who think we are crazy, but I am just so thankful for the people God has placed in our lives who simply support us.

During this overwhelmed feeling, I read this scripture one morning:
   1 Corinthians 10 : 13 (The Message)
  "No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had  to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you through it."

Oh my goodness, it was so fitting for what I needed to hear.  How many women have children, are working, and in grad school? How many women have dishes to clean, furniture to dust, and floors to mop? How many women have jobs and have adopted? How many people have lost loved ones over the holiday season?  PLENTY! I'm not the only one. So many people have been through the same situations and survived just fine. Plus, I don't have it all on my shoulders. God is with me and he knows how much I can handle. What a relief! By today, I have repeated that scripture so many times that I feel ten times better than I did on Monday.

Also, as a bonus, God provided a contact that led me to a Ghana adoption group on Facebook that has already been so informative. I feel like I have so many resources to learn from and people to relate to now.

Yay for the weekend too!

Changes in 2013!

      I've been wanting to announce this in a cute, creative way, but with my grandfather being ill and passing away I haven't had the time or energy.  BUT - We are very excited to announce that we have begun the process of adopting from Ghana! 

      Almost exactly a year to the day that I felt God calling us to adopt, Lud felt that he was ready to begin the process of adopting. After researching the agencies who were still working in Ghana and requesting references from them, we decided to apply to Faith International Adoptions in Tacoma, Washington. We applied and got accepted into the program to adopt a child 0 - 24 months.  Over the holidays we worked on getting some paperwork filled out and have officially mailed in our contract! 

      SO - I know the big questions are 1) What happens now? and 2) How long will it take before you bring home a baby?

      Answer to #1:  Now we are filling out paperwork for what is called our "dossier."  Basically, it includes a homestudy (a report that summarizes visits and interviews with us), background checks, physicals, good citizen reports, birth certificates, our marriage license, etc. Most of which have to be notarized. It should take us about three months to collect all the documents and complete the homestudy. 

      Answer to #2:  As soon as our contract gets processed, then our agency will start the process of matching us with a child. Due to multiple circumstances, this could happen faster or slower just depending on our age parameters and the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare.  Once they find a child that matches our parameters then our agency will send us what is called a referral. The referral will have a picture and whatever information is available about the child's health. We will then accept the referral if we feel right about it. The referral could happen before or after we've completed the dossier.  If we haven't completed it by the time we get our referral, then you better believe we will finish it as soon as possible! Once we accept the referral and the dossier is processed in Ghana, then we will travel for our first trip to Ghana to meet our child and go to Ghanaian court. (I can barely stand typing this b/c I'm so excited!!) Unfortunately, after our first trip, we'll have to return to home without our baby.  We'll have to wait until the American Embassy processes the adoption. Then, we'll return to Ghana and bring home our baby forever! The entire process should take about a year. 

      While all this sounds so simple and easy in a paragraph, it is a very challenging and detailed process.  We will  need the prayers and support of our family and friends. I will use this blog to keep everyone updated, but it will also be used to help spread the word of ways you can help us bring our baby home.  From talking about this with numerous friends and family, I know everyone feels differently about whether it is okay to monetarily support families' adoptions.  While we are going to primarily pay for the adoption ourselves, adoption is different from having a baby in the hospital where the bill is mostly paid through insurance, and we may need to do fundraisers or ask for monetary gifts in lieu of traditional baby gifts. All I ask is that you prayerfully consider the way you feel comfortable about supporting us.  We love y'all and appreciate any support you give us! 

       We could have a baby home by the end of 2013! So excited about changes in 2013!