Don't feel "behind" or "left out" if you hadn't heard the news at this point. We're just getting rolling! We've been officially accepted by Lifeline Child Services as well as accepted into their Haiti adoption program. We've filled out a lot of paperwork, written a big check and started reading from the suggested adoptive parent reading list. And now -- you are "in the loop" with us!
Today is a big day in our process though, friends. Jeff and I will be engaging with our case worker (Who is amazing, btw!) in just a few hours for our Orientation Interview. This sounds pretty intimidating, I'll be honest. I have about 2,469,372 questions running though my head coupled with about three times that number of insecurities surrounding being deemed a "good enough" parent to continue this process and well, let's just say that sleep did not come easy last night (Yes, most of this was written in the middle of night. Bless.).
I am sure this conference call will be much less traumatic than I have built it up to be in my (crazy!) head, and that we will hang up feeling even more excited about this process. I'm just sure of it.
So, the significance of this call? This call is the initiation of the home study process. This is about a 4-month process that will create the dossier to be sent to Haiti to match us with our baby girl. It's a BIG, HUGE step, y'all! We are excited about being one step closer to Walton: Party of 5.
I started a journal in November when all this began to really unfold and as I looked back on the first few entries, I can already see God at work in our family - and for our family. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote,
"God is so, so good, sweet one!
He is already writing a beautiful story for YOU - no matter how it began.
I pray we can continue to patiently move forward
and surrender the pen to Him daily..."
Some ways we'd love for you to pray with us on this journey at this point...
- Pray for focus (and stamina!) with the required paperwork for the process. Again, paperwork is NOT my jam, y'all.
- Pray for our boys as the "talk" becomes reality for them and changes their roles in our family. Eli has made it very clear that he does not want to be "the baby" of our family anymore. Just bless.
- Pray for financial provision. We will definitely be letting you know about fundraising opportunities as they are planned! Noonday Collection Trunk Show, anyone?
- Most importantly, pray for our baby girl. We don't know if she is yet to be born, or already living in an orphanage but please, please pray with us for her protection, her family and all those involved in her care until she is home with us.
We covet your prayers and know that without the prayers and support of family and friends, we would not be where we are today with this process. We continue to pray that throughout this entire journey, people see JESUS. Not us or what we do, but JESUS and what He's doing - for us and for her.
Stay tuned...
