In my last post, I shared how Nebraska lost our clearances and our home study was put on hold. Well, we almost had another major glitch. Let me set the background. When we signed up with the agency to do our home study, they gave us a list of all the documents we needed. Then we worked with them for over a month. And they have let us know what documents were outstanding. For the last 3 weeks, I knew we were only missing some state clearances. Well, last week, they decided out of the blue that they needed a copy of Gabe's adoption decree. Why? I have no idea. Maybe to make sure his parents didn't buy him on the black-market? Well, it just so happens that the day they emailed me was the day Gabe's parents were flying out of Denver to go to the Philippines for a month! I quickly called Terri, my mother-in-law, and to my relief they were packing. I asked her if she had the documents and after a few minutes of looking, she found it. Then, she informed me their scanner may be broken. I was freaking out at that point. And with our Nebraska documents getting lost in-transit, I didn't want her to mail such a important document. But God came through (which shouldn't surprise me at all). Somehow Bill was able to scan the documents to me that afternoon, which I forwarded to the agency. Crisis averted.
So all that was left was the pesky Nebraska clearances, take 2. Gabe got back on Friday so we went and got the documents notarized on Monday. I was all ready to mail the documents then thought I should fax them as well. I made out a coversheet with my info and faxed it at work. Only a few minutes later, I get a phone call from the people I sent it (at my work phone which really surprised me). They said they got my fax, no need to mail the originals, and they would fax it back to our home study agency later that day. This afternoon our coordinator emailed and said they received it and our home study would be finalized tomorrow!
All these little hiccups are just that: little. Amazingly, the situation hasn't become overwhelming or too stressful. Everything has worked out pretty smoothly. Which in my mind affirms that this is what God is wanting us to do. If this was not his will, his hand wouldn't be on all these hiccup situations and it would be a mess, I'd be stressed out and cranky. But the timing of everything, especially the situation with Gabe's parents leaving in a matter of hours, has all worked out because God is in control and he is making this all work out. It's his grace on us and our choice. What a comfort that is!
So with our home study complete, this makes us eligible for a baby. No more legal compliance. Once we are selected, we can bring a baby home. We can get matched with any birth mother, even one in labor. Or we could get a phone call that an infant in our area is a match for us. Those are rare occasions, but it is a possibility. Which is exciting and slightly terrifying overwhelming. In a way, I want to have time to prepare and build a relationship with our birth mother. But with Gabe moving to Hawaii in a little over a month, a quick adoption would be a gracious gift.
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.
