Where is the time going? How can it be that I haven’t posted since February!? Well, let me tell you – it’s been nutty around here…just.plain.nutty. There has been tons going on at work, with the adoption, family events, and oh yeah, I decided to train for another ½ marathon. But let’s talk about what’s really on everyone’s mind…the adoption.
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| Ready to get fingerprinted at the Ankeny Police Station |
As I sit here
typing this, our social worker is finishing up our home study report. We met
with her a total of 4 times; each visit lasting an hour to an hour and a ½. We
met in the office once, and the rest of the visits were here at home. During
our second visit she split us up and talked with us individually. The last
visit she actually toured the house – the basement, the garage, the shed, and
all the closets. Thankfully nothing scary to see there – other than some cat
hair tumbleweeds in the basement. Ooops. We traveled to Cedar Rapids for a
training class for all prospective parents, and we have another class coming up
in May. (While required, it does not have to be done before they show our
profiles to birth parents.)
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| Dinner out in Cedar Rapids after our training class |
We talked at
great length with her about our childhoods, our families, our personalities,
our marriage, our work life, how we would plan to parent a child, etc. We also
talked, naturally, about Matt’s stroke and its lasting impact on us, our
families, and friends. It’s easy for us to see how far we’ve come when we break
it down like that for a new person. All the hours, weeks, months of rehab. All
the family strain and high emotions. All the unknowns. All the stress and
worry, fear and grief. But at the heart of it is all the love, commitment, and
faith. I hope this is what she took away from our home study visits. I hope
this is what is conveyed in our adoption profile book. That despite everything
we went through – we are still here, together, enjoying life. Our marriage is
stronger than ever. Our strained relationships have healed. Our amazing friends
stuck by us and some were even brought TO us by the stroke. So many stories to
share…so many incredible blessings we’ve known along the way. At the end of the
home study I felt grateful, once again, and hopeful that our story will touch
the heart of the right person at the right time.
So – we have
finished all our paperwork and have printed our adoption profile books (which I
LOVE) and now we are ready to wait. Hopefully our home study report will be
finished up in the next week or so and then the REAL waiting begins. It will be
good to officially be done with this phase of the journey, though. We will be
ready to focus on the summer and all the fun we are bound to have with our
family and friends. We will pray each night for God to work in the lives of
those who were meant to be drawn to us and we will wait on Him for the next
steps. While we’ve jumped through all the right hoops, and have done our best
to show the true Matt & Emily to prospective birthparents, ultimately we
know who is in charge here.
In the meantime,
we are looking to sell the wagon for additional adoption funds and continue to
be humbled by and grateful for the support from you all. We simply would not be
where we are today without you!!
We know adoption
is complicated and we know it’s not easy – but we trust in the process and we
trust in God to see us through.
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| Celebrating Estelle's 3rd Birthday - the sweet baby who helped change everything for us. |
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