On Sunday, we got together with family and friends for food and fun at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We got some really good pictures (and a few that are marginal, but they’re all here). Click on the picture to see more.
Home Study
Our Home Study is approved! It was completed by our social worker, then submitted to and approved by the agency’s committee. So we’re on to the next step, which is completing our dossier and preparing for travel. The travel will not happen for some time – it will be months, but it’s impossible to predict how many months at this time. This Thursday, we travel to Yakima to submit our I-600A and get fingerprinted by Homeland Security. This is how we get the forms that allow us to bring the kids back into the US. Pray that we will have an eye for detail because any details we miss might be caught overseas and cause major delays.
Sary-Jo’s Birthday Reflections
What’s your perspective?
I don’t know about you, but I am constantly being bombarded with society’s preoccupation with youth and beauty. I find the amount of grumbling over aging out of balance with honoring God. Sure, I struggle with the same issues as others my age: wrinkles, flab, sagging skin, weight gain, fatigue, sore muscles, gray and thinning hair, loss of memory, failing eye sight, desiring comfortable shoes, and so on… but birthdays don’t bother me! In fact, I look forward to my birthday every year! Today is no exception! It’s a day to thank God for knitting me in my mother’s womb, to reflect on where I’ve been and pray about how He is yet to use me and to admit nothing counts without God. Dwelling on youth doesn’t change the fact that death is inevitable. Whether I die today, tomorrow, in a few years or in many, my future is secure in Christ and in Christ alone. Ultimately, the condition of my heart is what really matters to God. Am I reflecting His character? Am I doing things His way? …for His glory? While I am still here, He has work for me to do. With the adoption of our two boys, there will indeed be work! I believe with all my heart that if God called us to it, He will equip us – even at our age! I am sometimes overwhelmed with emotion over the tedious process, the thought of having kids again, and the new challenges we will be facing, but I have enough life experience to know God is in control and He will guide us like He has before. He is faithful. His promises are trustworthy. Today I pray that my perspective always be God-centered. May I set my heart on the things that count for eternity and in all humility glory in the Lord as he continues to renew me day by day in wisdom and understanding! Praise you, Lord, on this, my 51st birthday!!
March 1 Status
We are busy compiling all the documents for our dossier. The exciting news is that we essentially have everything that’s in our control done!!! Our homestudy should come back next week. After we receive that we can drive to the Customs & Immigration Service (CIS) office in Yakima to file our request to bring children back into the US. We have an appointment on March 12.
Last night we noticed an error on Randy’s State Patrol clearance so that will need to be redone. They used the wrong birthdate on their search and we’re glad we caught the error early.
Continue to pray for the boys’ physical and spiritual health, and that they will adapt to American life quickly. We have to admit we’re a bit nervous about the trip home as our kids have no life experience to compare to 24 hours of air travel. So pray for us too, please.
We’re Getting Boys!!!
God worked in our hearts and led us to “select” two brothers to join our family. They’re 6 and 8 years old (or maybe 7 and 9 – nobody is certain). We’ve seen pictures, read their bios, prayed (and prayed and prayed). Then we saw video! They are adorable and we enjoyed seeing them interact with the other children, widows and visitors. Of course, a lot can happen with the courts and so forth, but we’re pretty sure they will be in our home before the year is out. They’ve already got a home in our hearts and we pray over their beds all the time – now we can pray their names.
We’ve got to say that having the responsibility to select was almost more than we could handle. We want them all!!! With time and prayer, God impressed upon our hearts that He wants us to have these boys in our family. We could not have made the decision without time spent with Him.
Please pray for:
- Sary-Jo’s birth certificate to arrive quickly from Puerto Rico
- The boys (“F” and “B”) to learn some English and that they will adapt to a major culture shift
- Our work in the dossier – that it would be assembled properly and accepted rapidly
Homestudy update
We finished our part of the homestudy, which included three informative meetings with our Social Worker. Now she will write up her study and send us a draft to proof-read next Monday. Next, we’re putting the finishing touches on our dossier, which will make its way to Ethiopia after it’s validated by the US State Department. We’re waiting for a couple things (such as a certified copy of Sary-Jo’s birth certificate), we’ve got a few things to write (for example, a letter to Ethiopian officials explaining why we’d like to adopt Ethiopian children), and we need to put some documents together with notarization.
Training
We plan to finish our online adoption training this weekend! Also, please pray for clarity and God’s guidance as we consider which of the “waiting” children to bring into our home as our kids. The burden of decision is more on us than we anticipated and, on our own, we don’t feel like we’re up to the task of choosing. We desire to be obedient and to be led to the kids God already picked out.
Homestudy Begins
Our first visit with the Social Worker is Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the evening. Those praying for us, please pray for honest and open discussion that will equip us to better parent the kids God will be placing in our care.
Pediatrician
Sary-Jo set up an interview with a pediatrician. We were looking for someone with a special interest in foreign adoptions so that they would be attuned to various issues that we might encounter. As it turns out, the doctor who seems to best fill that bill is the wife of the school district’s Director of the ELL (English Language Learners) program, whom Sary-Jo has worked with and we both know! We meet her in a couple weeks.
Home Study Documents
Well… we finally finished our first wave of documents and are ready for the Home Study. I think the agency still needs some of the reference letters, but we finished our autobiographies (24 pages EACH) and got our medical forms, etc.