1st one down...

MANY to go.
Our first meeting for our ¨homestudy¨ yesterday went well. It was basically the social worker asking us questions about how we met, when our kids were born, and about our family. It was pretty easy. We had to make our first payment and then the psychologist is going to call us to set up our next meeting. She told us that since our schedules are so flexible, that we might even finish this first part of the process in only 2 months instead of 3. COOL!!

Therefore, PLEASE keep praying for us, that God would bring us the children HE wants in our home!

OUR FIRST MEETING

is scheduled!! July 14th at 9:30 am (EST) we will meet with the psychologist. Then for the next 3 months or so, we will be actively working on our "homestudy." This process is TOTALLY different from a homestudy performed in the states, or so I'm told!! For 3 months, once each week, one or all of us, have a meeting with a psychologist to talk about our lives. There are NO boundaries. They ask about EVERYTHING you could think of. They will interview our kids. They require a photo book of our life and past. These next few months should be intense, but well worth the end result!!! At the end of the 3 months the psychologists, based upon everything we've shared, will decide whether we can adopt 1 or 2 children. If it is 2, THEY MUST BE BIOLOGICALLY RELATED!!! They do not allow the adoption of 2 children who are not biologically related at the same time!

Once it is determined how many children we can adopt or even IF we can adopt, then we proceed with another 3 months or so of classes. After those requirements are fulfilled, we wait for a call. While we wait, the "agency" looks for the children that will match our family and then presents the case to the judge. Once the adoption is basically finalized, they call us and say, "You're kids are ready, come get them tomorrow!"

In other words, in as little as 6 months from now, we could be the proud parents of 4 children.

Please continue to pray for...

• GOD'S children for our family! We don't want the kids we think will fit the best. We want to impact these kids' lives for GOD and so we want GOD to select them for us! This is obvious in the process because we don't even get to meet the kids before their are actually ours.
• Patience in the process
• Our permanent visas to come SOON!!! We are in process for these and have been told that we can begin the process, but cannot have any children in our home until we have our permanet residency in hand. Please pray that they will come by the end of 2010!!!
• For Caleb and Hannah as they answer a psychologist's questions, without us in the room; that they would know the Spanish words to communicate with and that they will communicate clearly what they want to say.

We praise God that although our current monthly support level is LOW, that we have saved this money over the years to be able to adopt now. Plus, as many of you know of adoption, it can be VERY EXPENSIVE! I'll be completely honest here. For this adoption, it will "ONLY" cost us around $5000. Now that is CHEAP compared to other adoptions of OVER $30,000. We praise the Lord for HIS PROVISION and thank HIM for what HE will do!!

We'll keep you posted!

A VERY MOVING ¨VIDEO!¨ Won´t you consider who´s happy ending your family could be??

ANSWERS!!!

Finally after all of this waiting we have answers!!! We had our meeting with Fundacion Mi Casa today at 11:00am. Denise the lady in charge of their adoption program interviewed us and got all of our information. She was FABULOUS!!! She answered all of our questions. Here´s what we´ve learned.

There are 3 parts to the process.

The first is about 3 months or so of interviews, mainly with psychologists to determine that the couple/family is fit to adopt and if so, how many kids. This also includes a visit to our home, interviews with our older kids etc...

The second and third step include all the legal stuff and final placement of the child.

We do not get to meet the child/children before we get the call to ¨come get your kid/kids.¨ I takes UNDER a year from start to finish!!!

So, if we were to start today, we could have 2 more kids BY August!!! WOW!! However, we have to have our Permanent Residency visas BEFORE we can finalize an adoption. Also, if we don´t finalize an adoption within one year of our first Phych visit, we have to start that part of the process all over again!

Therefore, we are waiting until July to start the first part of the process. By that time, I will be done teaching Biology at the ABWE mission school and will have more time to ¨nest.¨ We are excited to see God answer prayers. We are still praying for twins younger than age 3, but we trust the LORD for HIS answers to our prayers!!!

We´ll keep you updated!!

A new interview date

Ok, after a long couple of months and failed communications, we finally have a new date to go to our first interview with the national adoption agency.

Next Thursday May 6th at 11:00 EST we will officially begin our adoption process. This meeting could make or break the adoption process, but we know and are secure in the fact that GOD is in control!

Please pray with us as we begin this process that we would glorify HIM and that He would guide us to the children, regardless of age, that HE has for our family!

Possible Start???

When I was running sprints in high school and then again at Houghton College, we worked on our starts the most. It TRULY is one of/if not THE most important aspect/s of running a race. I am so guarded to call this a "start." We don't false start the process and excitement of FINALLY beginning this process of adoption, if God closes this door or window.

Here are the facts. As a foreigner living in Chile, we must have our permanent residency in hand before we can complete an adoption from Chile. We are in "tramites" or in the process of obtaining our permanent residency visas. We have the paperwork stating that we are in that process and therefore I decided to inquire of a Chilean adoption agency as to whether or not we could at least BEGIN the adoption process and then finalize everything once we have our permanent visas. THEY SAID, "YES!!"

Therefore, we have an appointment for March 1st at 10am Chile time or 8am (EST) to discuss what we are looking for, whether or not they see us as qualifying for their program and so on. After that interview they would begin the "homestudy" portion of the adoption. This will entail invasive physcological testing, family interviews, and an evaluation of income. Please pray with us that God would have HIS will accomplished!

I've often said, "I don't care what color my children are, I don't care where they come from, (although I'd LOVE a latino child) I just want the children that GOD wants us to raise!" Please pray with us that as God opens this "window" that He will make clear the children that HE has for our family!

When God closes a door...

...Somewhere He opens a window.

God just keeps shutting doors to us adopting. Closed door to adoption from Haiti due to the post-earthquake government. Closed door to Nicaragua as that process isn't off the ground and is REALLY LONG AND EXPENSIVE. We still have a few doors that we're knocking on, but it is TRULY frustrating!!!

I do remember though that when God asked us to be missionaries that we promised to give our lives and "die" to our desires and live for HIM. If He chooses that we should not adopt, my heart will be broken, but I know that only GOD can truly mend it! His plan is always best, whether I like it or not!!

Maybe knocking on doors isn't where God wants us, maybe it's checking the windows to see if their open?!?!