Yesterday Michael and I had our first home study
interview. It turned into a 2 hour long
joint interview. It was only suppose to
be an hour or so, but time flies when you are having fun! I have been nervous about this day because it
was the first time we met our social worker/adoption specialist and it was our
first interview! Yikes! Michael and I spent the night at my parent’s
house because it is a little closer to Columbus than Corinth. If you know anything about me, then you know
I am not a morning person. Ha!
Lately we have felt like we are in fast forward with our
lives. Wednesday I came home and started
throwing things in bags for our night away from home and trying to make sure
our four legged baby was settled in for the night. We are thankful Michael’s mom and dad love
our BIG fury baby as much as we do and keep him company while we are away. They even turned a fan on to make him feel like
he was at home! Yes, he is spoiled!
We left our house and headed to Blue Springs. Although Michael and I missed church due to packing
and traveling; we caught my childhood church services dismissing and stopped
for a brief visit with my large family before heading to bed. We woke up semi-early and ate breakfast at
Cracker Barrel. It was delicious! After a long car ride we finally made it to
Columbus. We were greeted at Bethany
Christian Services by a sweet lady who introduced us to our social
worker/adoption specialist. We were so
thrilled to meet her for the first time.
Michael and I have been praying for our social worker for a while. She is amazing! Before Michael and I felt the call to adopt
we had started the process of foster care, but quickly found out it wasn’t what
God was calling us to do. We went
through all the classes and paperwork, but stopped right before the home visit.
I said that to say this: We have seen the importance of a good social worker! We have been blessed with a wonderful social
worker and are very excited to be working with her.
We started off by introducing ourselves and everything
else that goes along with meeting new people.
Our worker mixed things up to make it feel more like a conversation rather
than an interview. I liked that much
better. I didn’t feel like I was being interrogated. It was a very pleasant experience.
Bethany has started a new process of paperwork that we
completed which is supposed to be easier than before. So far the paperwork hasn’t been hard. We have completed our self study that will be
used to guide our individual interviews, physicals including a drug screen and
TB skin test, financial statement, copies of our birth certificates, tax form
information from last year has been sent (we are waiting to file for this year),
copy of marriage license, insurance coverage affidavit, and several criminal
background checks. We were informed that
this completes our paperwork process, until placement. YAY!!! This means we are that much closer to being
approved! Yep, you heard right! We are very close to waiting on “THE CALL!” Our social worker told us that if all goes
well (and she felt like it would), then we would be approved at the end of
March.
Michael and I still have our individual interviews, which
is scheduled for February 14th at 10 AM. The interview will be on the same day, but
one will wait in the lobby or ride around Columbus while the other is being
interviewed and vise versa. Sounds fun,
huh?! After the interviews are complete,
we will set a date and time for our social worker to come to our house for the
home visit. I am nervous about this
because I am a little OCD!! Michael
thinks I go overboard cleaning the house when family comes over, so I am sure
he is worried about my reaction to a total stranger coming to inspect our house! He is laid back and I
am Mrs. Spastic! It is okay, we will get
through it, I know.
The last step to our process is an all day mandatory
meeting that will be held in March.
After this meeting, we will officially be approved!
Then we just wait.
We wait on God’s timing!
For
the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not
lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not
tarry. Habakkuk 2:3
Let
us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful
that promised;). Hebrews 10:23
The
eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfies the
desire of every living thing. Psalm
145:15,16
This is a faith walk with God! Please continue to keep us in your
prayers! Please help us pray for our
adoption journey, for the birthmother as God guides her through this difficult process,
for the safety and health of Baby Shook, and for our patience as we wait on God’s
perfect timing.
I would like to send out a very special thank you for
everyone that has purchased a t-shirt already.
You are a large part in our adoption journey! A simple thank you is not enough! We are overwhelmed with gratitude towards you
and your family. May God bless each and
every one of you in a very special way!
As I said before in an earlier post; the t-shirts are not just for
raising money, but to join us in prayer.
Every time you wear our shirt or toss them in the washing machine let it
be a reminder to pray for our journey!
We love you all so much and if you have any questions about our journey
feel free to contact us by phone, facebook, or e-mail. We will be more than happy to answer any
questions you may have about our journey.
The t-shirts are still for sell and we are hoping to
place another order next week if all goes as planned! There is a store in Corinth that has agreed
to sell our t-shirts for us which will be announced when we are ready for you
to purchase/pick up from that very generous store! More information on that later…
I apologize for not posting the amount of the t-shirts in
my earlier post. The long sleeve is
20.00 and short sleeve is 18.00, for those of you who were wondering.
Michael and Ginger
