One Month Down

Well, it is February already and things have been pretty quiet.  We have been working on our checklist and slowly chipping away on the huge amount of paperwork that we need to get done.  In less than 30 days we were able to get over half of the checklist done, which is amazing to us.  We are very excited to finish this phase of the adoption.

Over the past month we have begun fundraising, which has been fun, yet stressful.  We cannot apply for any of the grants that are offered yet because our homestudy has not been finished, which is something that we are looking forward to.  Gretchen has started her home based business Stamped & Sealed, making custom stamped jewelry.  We are making custom designs for people and giving them out for donations only, and we have been amazed at what people are giving.

We are also fundraising through AdoptTogether and have been amazed at people's outpouring of love that they have shown to us.  Friends, family, and people we have never met have given to help us adopt!  All of this to say that one of the biggest worries that people have, including us, when adopting is being taken care of by faithful men and women all over the world.  God is providing for us through each one of you, and I want to personally say 'Thank you!'

We have been doing a lot lately to help keep our mind occupied.  Last week we hosted an Orphan Night, where we watched the documentary Stuck and had a time of fellowship with others who are in the process of adoption, or just thinking about how they might be able to have an impact on orphan ministry.  This was a nice event where we were able to talk to others about what they are going through.  Very encouraging.

We are also planning an Adoption Panel, where we will have several people talk about the adoption process.  This is designed to help people see that they can adopt, as well as answer any questions that people might have.  We have made an online form (here) where people can submit questions to be answered.  These questions will help us form and shape the panel discussion.  This is something that we are also very excited about, and we hope that we can reach a lot of people with this event.

All these things to help us keep our occupied.  There is a bit of anxiety while we wait for our kids to come home.  We are constantly wanting more information about the process and things that we can be working on, but there doesn't seem to be anything at this point.  We know that this is going to be a long process, and we are prepared and willing to wait, but we also want our kids to be home...now!