Paperwork, meeting and money

I have been feeling quite anxious over the last few days. We received our adoption manual from Lifeline and it consists of 174 pages of information to read and fill out!! Yikes! Jeff and I are driving to Birmingham on Monday to meet with our Lifeline social worker, then on Tuesday we are going to Nashville to meet our homestudy social worker. Since the agency we are using is in Alabama, we have to get another agency to do our homestudy. What that means is two applications, two application fees and it looks like double sets of paperwork. The anxiety isn't so much the paperwork. My job consists of mostly paperwork, and I can handle that just fine. However, the money situation has me stressed. After our meeting in Alabama, we have to send our first payment to the adoption agency. Then after completing our second application and meeting with the local agency doing the homestudy, we have to send in an application fee along with the homestudy fee. While I feel really good about using Lifeline Adoption Agency, I did not consider that some of the fees would be doubled. I am really struggling with how this is all going to work out...trying to figure out where to get extra money and how in the world we are going to come up with over $30,000 in the next year. I keep reminding myself that I need to trust God. I know this is true, but I often let my mind have control. There are ways to get grants and no interest loans, but we can't apply for those until we have a completed homestudy. That brings me back to my current concern...over the next week we need alittle over $3000 just to move on to the next step...which is the homestudy. Anyway, I am writing all this to say, please pray for us. Pray for God to help me to trust Him. I know with everything in me that we are suppose adopt and my heart aches every day of waiting. I know that I am going to have to let God have this situation, but it is really hard right now. Please pray!

Application completed and submitted!!

Jeff and I attended the information meeting with Lifeline Adoption in mid-November. We were very impressed with them and the meeting confirmed that this is the agency we want to go with for the adoption. Next up was the application. Oh MY!! It entailed a lot of information and a lot of details. How much we weigh, the dates of immediate family deaths and a lot of details about our finances... It was interesting for me to see the breakdown of where our money goes each month. After completing that section, I started looking at ways we can cut expenses. We also had to answer numerous questions about Christianity, the Holy Spirit and give our personal testimonies. Lifeline is a christian agency and want to make sure they are putting kids in the homes of people who love God. That is the main reason we want to use them..this is a ministry to them and not a money making venture.
Now that the application is completed and it has been sent on it way to Lifeline, I am feeling a bit anxious and excited. Anxious about where the money is going to come for and nervous about becoming a parent in the not to distant future. We are fully aware that our lives are completely changing.
When adopting from Ukraine, it is basically a blind adoption. Therefore, we won't really know anything about our child until we get to the Ukraine. When I chatted with Lifeline's Ukraine Social worker, she told me to pray about a sibling group. Apparently many of the children available for adoption have brothers and/or sisters. Jeff and I talked about this and prayed about this. Our stand is that if this is what God has for us, then we will be all for it. I am constantly reminding myself that God know exactly what we need. He knows who our child/children are and exactly how it is all going to work out. I just need to rest in Him and be patient!
Next up will be a trip to meet with Lifeline at their Birmingham office.

The Beginning!

Jeff and I have finally come to the point in our lives that we feel like it is time to extend our family. I have never had the desire to have a baby, but I have always wanted to adopt. Jeff shares that desire. We have decided that we would like to adopt a little girl from the Ukraine. My sister was adopted over 4 years ago from the same country. We couldn't possibly love her anymore and I know that I will love my little girl just as much.
Last night as Jeff and I were attempting to read the Russian alphabet, we decided to start a blog. We want to document the process, so that when our daughter comes home we can show her the process we went through to get her. We also want to share the experience with our friends and family who have been apart of our lives and who will be apart of her life.
The month of November is Adoption Awareness and every time I turn on 94 FM the Fish and hear them talk about adoption, my heart squeezes a little bit. I was reading a blog from another waiting mother and she stated "When waiting for adoption you fall head over hills in love with a child you have never seen." I can't tell you how true this is, my heart aches to see her face and to hug her. It amazes me that God gives this ability to love someone I have never met. I know that this is just a tiny glimpse in how much God loves us.
Adopting a child is an expense process and we are in fundraising mode. We have decided to use our catering as an avenue to help raise money. Next Tuesday, we are going to an information meeting with Lifeline Adoption Agency. We feel like this is the agency we want to use for our adoption. Next up, we have to file the application along with the fee and then onto the homestudy.