Passports... Check!

This morning I applied for my passport and Jeremy renewed his. After all is said and done the total came to $295 for both of us ($25 - 2 pictures, $220 - 2 checks to Department of State, $50 - 2 post office handling fees). The passports should be here in 6-8 weeks!

Our Social Worker called Friday and left a voicemail letting us know that she'd like to schedule our home study. We will try to nail down at date/time today with her.

We are also working on Part A of our future child's Immagration Visa.

There's the possibility things could move quite quickly after our home study (of course it may not too) so we have to be prepared both financially and with paperwork to the best of our ability.

We look forward to meeting our social worker and be able to begin applying for grants (after her study is written up).

Quick Update

Just wanted to give a quick update: Our FBI background check has cleared and everything is submitted. Our case file is being reviewed by our agency's branch manager and will be passed off to our social worker shortly. Our social worker will then come to visit our house and interview us. Once her report on us is written we can then be matched with a child.

Matching = receiving a picture(s) and a profile description of the child (including age, known health conditions, personality, ect...) that we can than choose to accept (or deny) as our future child

I can't wait to see the face of the little one who's been pulling at my heart strings from over 6,400 miles away. He/she didn't grow in my tummy but they certainly have been growing in my heart and I so look forward to holding him/her.

Sunday Morning Donation + Thoughts

This morning, while sitting in church, I got a little surprise. A friend of ours (and her hubby) slipped a sweet note and a $20 donation in my purse. Every little bit helps lift the financial burden and the encouragement from others is priceless. Thank you Houy family.

 I hope that as most of you read these blog posts that you feel a renewed sense of conviction and passion for where God has called you to "move" and act... don't wait. Don't put it off. This journey of jumping through hoops and acquiring funds is a sweet one because its where we're supposed to be.  I'd rather struggle for what's right than to comfortably live in apathy and I hope you all agree. There's a real sense of deep peace and joy when we go outside our comfort zones for something greater than ourselves. We ask that you continue to pray that we are receptive to God's leading and consistently willing to obey.

Donation and Encouragement

This evening I had the pleasure of visiting with a dear friend while doing my cosmetology thing. This friend, and her husband, also adopted from S Korea with Holt International 2 separate times. Their boys , received at 5 and 6 months old, are now a great couple of young men that my husband really enjoys having in the youth group at church. It's great to hear about their adoption experiences and it's also fun to be reminded that our family will likely look quite similar 12-13 years from now. It's fun to dream about the future... And yet I'm thankful to be right here, right now. "Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we're waiting for" (Charles Stanley).

They also blessed us with a $100 donation. I don't want to sound like a broken record but we greatly appreciate people's willingness to give financially to our family/future child.  Thank you Johnson family!

$200 Donation

Just found out from my hubby that we received a $200 donation today! Can't express how grateful we are when people do this for us. Not only is it actually helping us pay for our adoption expenses but it encourages us as well. We're now that much closer and we appreciate it so much. Thank you Dotson Family!

Make That $400!

I already posted today but I just received an online donation of $100 (added to our previously mentioned $300). We so appreciate people's willingness to give for the sake of our child in S Korea. We have tried to make it clear that we don't want our pursuit of adoption to become anyone else's burden. We chose this. But we are so thankful when people give because they believe in what's happening here. It's such a blessing to see God move through others and the generosity is not forgotten. We hope you celebrate with us when we bring our baby home to his/her forever family. Thank you Peter & Gina <3

A Repeat Snail-Mail Donation + Update

So my awesome little sister, Anya, (who happened to turn 20 yesterday) sent me a second $100 check in the mail today ($200 total)! I know I've mentioned before, in earlier posts, about how special it is that not only a younger sibling would help financially to bring their nephew/niece home but also the fact that she is adopted as well.  It's a great testimony to the fact that adoption changes lives and is such a good thing. Love you Anya!

Also, Jeremy and I will be finishing our parenting classes tonight so everything in our immediate inbox will be cleared out (for now) and we will wait for our next step... Our home study!

We have also been able to make a $200 adoption fund deposit of our own. We don't share every time we set money aside for our adoption for fear that we may bore you all to death but we also want you to know we're trying. And its so exciting to see that little thermometer (in the right hand column - "web version" of our blog) rise with each drop in the bucket! And today it's a $300 jump :D