Doesn't Anyone Care About Trees?

Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. 

We got our packet last week from Bethany and it was jacked full of paperwork. Our case worker, Bonnie, asked that we fill it out to the best of our ability, send it back in, and we could get started with the interview part of the home study. 

I'm sure this is just the start of all of the paperwork we'll be providing, and let's be honest, it's not that much. 

According to our International Adoption Family Checklist, we need to fill out/provide the following:

• SAFE Questionnaire–questions regarding your relationship with your parent/guardian 
• Birth certificates
• Marriage licenses
• Guardian form
• Family history data
• Adoptive family information sheet–basic information about us, i.e. name, address, date of birth
• Affdavit of health insurance
• Medical exam 
• Employer reference
• Criminal background–including a set of fingerprints for each of us
• Parental discipline policy form–instructs that discipline is a necessary part of parenting and is taught biblically
• Duty of disclosure
• Last three years tax forms
• Financial statement
• Reference letters–four personal references, one may be a relative 
• Verification of employment 
• Bethany permission/concent form–permission for our employers to share information on us 
• Prospective adoptive parent training requirement–we need to take 30 hours of educational training. Classes they've had so far are language acquisition, and sexual behavior problems. 

Phew. That's it. 

We've got most of it filled out, and are getting our fingerprints done (the police station only takes appointments a couple days a week). So once all is complete, we'll send 'er in. After they receive our paperwork, we'll be in contact with our social worker, and set appointments to meet. 

I know this is only the beginning. And it's such an exciting time in our family. 

Adoption Fund

Last week, Adam and I met with the International Ministry Director at our church to discuss the possibility of raising funds through Cornerstone. 

It was a casual conversation that involved questions about how long we've been involved in the church, why we wanted to adopt, etc. After about 30 minutes, he told us he would have to present our case to the council of elders and get back to us. 

[Wait time]

Adam and I have been approved to receive funds from Cornerstone and to raise support through Cornerstone. This means our friends and family (that's you–the one reading this!) will be able to give a tax-deductible donation to Cornerstone for our adoption. The church allows us to raise up to $10,000 in this fund and they will provide an additional donation after the adoption has taken place. 

If you have any questions about donating, please don't hesitate to ask! And while we would definitely appreciate any financial donations, we ask first for your prayer. Pray for our family as we prepare for a large transition, and pray for the heart of our little one–whether he or she has been brought into this world yet or not. 

The Order of Things

Adam and I have have had some people question the order of things in our adoption. Mostly, people ask about the fact that we haven't struggled with fertility, and are pursuing adoption first.

People seem puzzled with the fact that we were choosing to adopt first. Supportive, but puzzled.

This is something we've thought about before. Are we doing the right thing by adopting first? Should we try to get pregnant?

But then we think; this isn't even our choice. True, Adam has known he wanted to adopt for years now, and I was supportive of that, but when we wanted to start a family...we just knew that we were supposed to adopt. We truly feel that the Holy Spirit called us to do this. Any by choosing to answer that call, we're being obedient to Him.

Adopting certainly doesn't have to be someone's 'Plan B' after they aren't able to get pregnant. Sure, that is often times the case, but what would happen to the children of the world if they were always someone's Plan B?

Fortunately, our agency is very supportive of our choice to adopt before having biological children (if we choose to have biological children).

There are a couple of reasons why they believe it's not a bad idea to adopt before having biological children:

1. Birth order – Often when adopting (especially international), the chances of adopting an infant are small. If you have a biological child first, then adopt when the child is two or three, you may end up with an adoptive child who is older than your biological child. 
2. Attention – Children who are available for adoption have likely suffered trauma in their short lives. It's likely that they won't automatically accept a mom or a dad as their parent; full attention needs to be given, trust has to be built. This is more easily done if there are less distractions around the home.

Above all, let's just remember one thing – love makes a family, and we've got that.

High Five for Friday!

Oops...it's Saturday.

But wow, a week! The weather has been dreary and rainy here all week, so we're looking forward to some warm, sunny weather again. Here are the top five moments for the week.

1. I got baptized on Sunday! I wasn't baptized as an infant, and started becoming curious about church when I was in 7th grade. After losing my parents in 2008, I started relying on Christ. I've wanted to be baptized for a while now, but always came up with an excuse not to. After taking the membership class at our church, I couldn't come up with an excuse not to get baptized. And I'm so happy I did. It was a great feeling professing that Christ is my Lord and Savior in front of my entire church family.

2. Today, (well yesterday) two good friends of ours are tying the knot. I'm so excited to celebrate their mawaige. This summer, they'll even be our neighbors. Life is good.

3. As of today, we paid our home study fee. This means we won't have another fee until we send in our dossier, where we'll pay our first country fee. Actually, here is a handy visual of our adoption road map.

4. Rain. So, it has rained here all week. The one thing about the rain is that everything is so fully in bloom and gorgeous. Spring is such a wonderful time of rebirth. So even though the rain has been dreary and cold, it's good for something.

5. Adam and I went to Once last week in Des Moines. It was great to have a little date night and enjoy a live show.

Preparing for a Homestudy

Preparing for our home study is next on our list. Wait, what?


After the ups and downs we've had to deal with, we're excited to start this process. It's kind of the this is actually happening part (well, before the holy cow this is actually happening part).

A home study is a written report of findings of a social worker who has met with applicants on several occasions. In our case, the social worker works through Bethany. She will meet with us four times; once in the office, and three times in our home. She will interview us individually and together. The following information is usually included in a home study:

• Personal and family background
• Significant people in our lives
• Marriage relationships
• Family relationships
• Motivation to adopt
• Expectations for the child
• Parenting and integration of the child into the family
• Family environment
• Physical health and history
• Education
• Employment
• Finances
• References

We've been assured not to be too worried about the home study. You're probably wondering about that whole remodel thing, right? Yeah...we were too. Well, we've asked numerous questions about the impact that remodeling (like serious remodeling) will have on our home study report. They've assured us not to worry one bit about this. Plus our case worker will look for progress as she visits. Which is good, because clearly our basement doesn't match the rest of our house. (Insert proud emoji). Check out our home renovation blog if you haven't already seen it.

Bethany has told us they have a maximum of 120 days to complete the home study. Bethany does both domestic and international adoption, but international adoptions take priority over domestic home study mainly because of the wait times. She said we should have ours completed by July. After the home study report is complete, we’ll get all of our other documents put together and send off to the country.

I called our adoption specialist today to ask a couple basic questions before we get started. She’s going to send a packet of documents to us go to through and start.

Whoo!