First Homestudy Interview

On Wednesday we had our first homestudy interview.  I was so nervous about it.  It's weird to have someone pick through your life, giving you the 'ok' to be a parent.  I know that Gabe and I will be some awesome parents, but the thought of someone stamping "veto" on our dreams is scary.  So I went into the interview a bit uptight.

We had found a local christian adoption agency to do our homestudy.  They specialize in international adoption, which is why we didn't go with them for our domestic adoption.  We had to send an application.  Once approved, we filled out a rather length formal application.  Then, we were emailed an extraordinary amount of documents to fill out.  By the time we met for our first interview, most of the documents were done and ready to be turned in (or had been emailed already).

When we started our interview, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the coordinator we had been corresponding with was a young lady not much older than us.  She has a great sense of humor an we were able to laugh and joke around, making the situation and questions not seem so intrusive.  We were asked the basic questions about drug use, psychiatric issues, felonies, etc.  But then we moved into a marital interview.  She asked questions about how we met, what attracted us to the other, how we dealt with conflicts, etc.  Even though we were being quite open with a complete stranger, we were surprisingly at ease and I think it went really well.

Next week, we both have our individual interviews (done separately), and our home walk-thru on Friday after work.  Our adoption agency does not split up sibling groups, and because we see that as important, we are open to an older sibling up to 3 years old.  Because there is a slight possibility we will be blessed with a toddler, we have to have the house somewhat toddler-ready.  That includes locks on cabinets.  I'm not one to want to plan so far ahead.  I mean, it could be 2 years before we have a child in our home.  So baby-proofing the house right now seems silly, but we will do what we have to do.

So, we feel very blessed to be working with great people with Christian principals.  I think it gives us an unspoken bond that makes a stressful situation a little bit more calm.

**Oh, and here is a tid-bit of a fun fact: Missouri law states that for a home study, any firearms must be locked in a safe, with the ammo in a separate safe.  I can kinda see why they do this, but I hope that any burglars give us a 10 second head start.