Sunday, January 22, 2006
Comments Welcome
We have received emails from several of you responding to our blog. We love hearing from you and would like to know who else has decided to join our journey online. At the end of each entry there is a comment link. Instead of flipping back and forth to your email accounts, you can post a comment right here. Just go to the bottom, click "comments", and a box will pop up for you to enter your words of wisdom:) It will be fun for us to read them all in one place and to share them with others who visit our site. It's also a good place to ask questions, since we can answer them online. Now, off to do some major cleaning.......Our Home Visit is scheduled for Tuesday at 10:00am. Have a fabulous Monday! Love to all!!!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Lord's Hand
What a day it has been! A good one I might add:) We had a full schedule with my individual interview with Mary at 10:00, then our joint interview at 11:00, lunch at Chili's, and a 3 hour doctor visit. Yes, the medical examination requirements are so extensive that they even suprised our doctor! But we are moving right along and are being amazed at every turn how the Lord's plans are unfolding.
During our interview today, we put together a few puzzle pieces that some might casually attribute to a "small world" coincident. However, it became even more evident to us that the Lord has been walking this road with us before we even knew where we were going.
In talking with Mary, we realized that we have much in common. Both of us grew up Presbyterian and were involved with Young Life. She went to Wake Forest University which is directly down the street from the house I grew up in, and at one point worked with Young Life leadership while she was there. Her oldest daughter, whom she originally wanted to name Salem (go figure), was at Windy Gap on Work Crew the summer of 1996, while I was a summer guide at Pioneer Plunge, then went on to work at Noah's Ark (a Christian rafting company in Colorado that led me twice down the raging rapids of the Arkansas River...and a place where I always dreamed of working). It seemed like everything we spoke of led us into a common life experience. But as we were leaving, the sight of a small wooden box with the inscription of "King College" caught my eye.
The campus of King College holds a very special place in my heart. I spent several summers there as a junior high camper at a PFR camp called The Great Escape. I asked if she went to King College and she began to tell me that they used to live in Bristol and worked there in ministry. Soon we found out that her husband worked with PFR ministries and directed those very programs that I had attended as a young teenager!!! Even several of the guys they had on PFR staff were Wake students that volunteered at our church in Winston-Salem to whom I had direct contact with and who answered many questions I had as the Lord was pursuing my heart. It was wild!!! I even commented to Drew in the office before leaving of how cool it was that Mary and her husband were behind the ministry that was instrumental in leading me to Christ. But, it wasn't until Drew and I were sitting at Chili's about to order our meal that it hit me.......God knew at that moment of my life, as I was sitting on the floor of the cafeteria at King College hearing about the love of Christ, that Mary and Rocky were there. Tears welled up in my eyes with the realization that as God was in the process of adopting my heart, in the same room were the very people who would be leading my future husband and I through an adoption process to bring our daughter home. At the same time the Lord was quietly laying the name "Salem" on my heart (see "Our Christmas Letter"), He was writing our family story (that we would come to realize more than 15 years later), and clearly ordaining our journey to bring her home:) WOW!!! It is amazing to know a faithful God who hems us into His will, "scoops" us up, and carries us to the places to where He is calling!
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
During our interview today, we put together a few puzzle pieces that some might casually attribute to a "small world" coincident. However, it became even more evident to us that the Lord has been walking this road with us before we even knew where we were going.
In talking with Mary, we realized that we have much in common. Both of us grew up Presbyterian and were involved with Young Life. She went to Wake Forest University which is directly down the street from the house I grew up in, and at one point worked with Young Life leadership while she was there. Her oldest daughter, whom she originally wanted to name Salem (go figure), was at Windy Gap on Work Crew the summer of 1996, while I was a summer guide at Pioneer Plunge, then went on to work at Noah's Ark (a Christian rafting company in Colorado that led me twice down the raging rapids of the Arkansas River...and a place where I always dreamed of working). It seemed like everything we spoke of led us into a common life experience. But as we were leaving, the sight of a small wooden box with the inscription of "King College" caught my eye.
The campus of King College holds a very special place in my heart. I spent several summers there as a junior high camper at a PFR camp called The Great Escape. I asked if she went to King College and she began to tell me that they used to live in Bristol and worked there in ministry. Soon we found out that her husband worked with PFR ministries and directed those very programs that I had attended as a young teenager!!! Even several of the guys they had on PFR staff were Wake students that volunteered at our church in Winston-Salem to whom I had direct contact with and who answered many questions I had as the Lord was pursuing my heart. It was wild!!! I even commented to Drew in the office before leaving of how cool it was that Mary and her husband were behind the ministry that was instrumental in leading me to Christ. But, it wasn't until Drew and I were sitting at Chili's about to order our meal that it hit me.......God knew at that moment of my life, as I was sitting on the floor of the cafeteria at King College hearing about the love of Christ, that Mary and Rocky were there. Tears welled up in my eyes with the realization that as God was in the process of adopting my heart, in the same room were the very people who would be leading my future husband and I through an adoption process to bring our daughter home. At the same time the Lord was quietly laying the name "Salem" on my heart (see "Our Christmas Letter"), He was writing our family story (that we would come to realize more than 15 years later), and clearly ordaining our journey to bring her home:) WOW!!! It is amazing to know a faithful God who hems us into His will, "scoops" us up, and carries us to the places to where He is calling!
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Monday, January 16, 2006
ugh....Paperwork
Ok, if there was ever a reason to reorganize every important scrap of paper on your life, this is it. We've finished the poking and prodding of the "self-study," a rather thorough questionnaire about us, what makes us tick and every aspect of our life together and apart. The social workers use it as an advance snapshot for our pending interviews (the home study). That wasn't too tough, since we generally wear our lives inside out. But now comes the fun stuff. Our friends, the Nichols, are several months ahead of us in the process. Tonight, they shared their journey thus far with the church. (they did a great job, by the way.) One thing Stephen pointed out is that, with international adoption, you get to wade through the bureaucracy of TWO countries. I laughed then. I'm groaning now.
So now I'm tracking down our financial stats, insurance policies, previous employers, family history, and references. Later this week, we begin our interviews with Mary, our case worker from Bethany. We also get doctor visits, criminal background checks, and birth certificates requested this week. I'm starting to feel the weight of the process. But at least it's progress. Ha ha - I guess we've been feeling the "wait" of the process for a much longer time.
But the Lord is faithful and He is good, and He has sustained us through the waiting. Now, I know He will sustain us through the paperwork. It's not every day that you receive a "whole life inspection," but that's what it feels like. It's certainly not a bad thing.
On a side note, Amy headed back to school last week after a long Christmas break. I'm enrolled in Spanish classes at Chattanooga State. I realized I can squeeze in three semesters of Spanish before Salem arrives, and I won't want to take them once she's here. Nothing like a baby coming to make you hurry through a "to do" list.
Well, I'm about to break the seal on the "China Packet," an ADDITIONAL pack of forms we get to fill out. It turns out all the others we have are only for the stateside crowd: Bethany and the Feds. On a progress note, we have sent off our I-600A form, a permission slip to ask permission to bring a foreign child to the states for adoption. When we get that back (hopefully soon), we will have an appointment to get fingerprinted in Nashville. After that, we wait for the Federal forms, the Home Study, and our prints to get clearance. Since this is a time consuming process, we look forward to getting our request back so we can get fingerprinted and begin waiting. You can pray for that process to speed through. Thanks.
Also pray for us as we wade through paperwork. While I'm used to juggling lots of things at once, it's not due to my great organizational skills. Pray God will help us stay focused and organized through this paperwork process. Thanks. And thanks for checking in with us. I feel like the process has truly begun. (We even wrote our first check.) We'll probably post weekly to let you know how it is going and how we are managing.
So now I'm tracking down our financial stats, insurance policies, previous employers, family history, and references. Later this week, we begin our interviews with Mary, our case worker from Bethany. We also get doctor visits, criminal background checks, and birth certificates requested this week. I'm starting to feel the weight of the process. But at least it's progress. Ha ha - I guess we've been feeling the "wait" of the process for a much longer time.
But the Lord is faithful and He is good, and He has sustained us through the waiting. Now, I know He will sustain us through the paperwork. It's not every day that you receive a "whole life inspection," but that's what it feels like. It's certainly not a bad thing.
On a side note, Amy headed back to school last week after a long Christmas break. I'm enrolled in Spanish classes at Chattanooga State. I realized I can squeeze in three semesters of Spanish before Salem arrives, and I won't want to take them once she's here. Nothing like a baby coming to make you hurry through a "to do" list.
Well, I'm about to break the seal on the "China Packet," an ADDITIONAL pack of forms we get to fill out. It turns out all the others we have are only for the stateside crowd: Bethany and the Feds. On a progress note, we have sent off our I-600A form, a permission slip to ask permission to bring a foreign child to the states for adoption. When we get that back (hopefully soon), we will have an appointment to get fingerprinted in Nashville. After that, we wait for the Federal forms, the Home Study, and our prints to get clearance. Since this is a time consuming process, we look forward to getting our request back so we can get fingerprinted and begin waiting. You can pray for that process to speed through. Thanks.
Also pray for us as we wade through paperwork. While I'm used to juggling lots of things at once, it's not due to my great organizational skills. Pray God will help us stay focused and organized through this paperwork process. Thanks. And thanks for checking in with us. I feel like the process has truly begun. (We even wrote our first check.) We'll probably post weekly to let you know how it is going and how we are managing.
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