Home Study and Dossier

     We are finally ready to have our home study!  When we switched agencies there were some details that needed to be worked out before we could complete this part of the process.  But now everything is sorted out and we are ready to move on.  The home study consists partly of collecting documents (which we have already done) and partly of a home visit from a social worker.  We are hoping to get this scheduled with her soon.  As with everything in this process, this is an important step that needs to be completed before we can move on.
     I also received instructions on filling out our dossier.  This is a formal presentation of our documents that will be given to the judge in Poland when we go there to adopt our daughters.  It is a lengthy processes of authenticating all of the documents we have collected.  There are some things I have been able to compile but everything else has to wait until the home study is complete.  I was a little overwhelmed when I received this latest round of work.  I have some times when I don't feel like doing this at all, and other times when I wish I could just finish it all at once.  I am working through it and Kevin is helping where he can.
     In between all of this, we are working on some fundraising ideas.  I had some luck selling a musical instrument on eBay so I have scoured the house for other items to sell.  I think I will try a few small items and see how it goes.  My husband is currently cleaning up his Xbox to sacrifice to the cause.  He even volunteered to play it to make sure it works properly...We have also considered hosting a 5k among other things.  Although it is hard to think about a 5k when there is currently up to a foot of snow headed our way.  What happened to spring?
     I have also tried to buy some things off of eBay but have not had any success.  One of the things I was bidding on was a Rosetta Stone Polish language course.  The Polish language is not something that will be easy to master so I thought I would get a head start and at least learn enough to help us get around when we are there.  I was hoping to save some money by finding it used, but I will just have to keep looking,  I have some time before I will need it.
     I know this will all be worth it someday!   I keep reminding myself that we are getting closer with each document!

Please pray that the home study goes smoothly, that the papers won't overwhelm me, and that our children will be safe in our arms soon.

Thank you!

Spring Forward

     I love this time of year!  I am so excited that the sun will be shining longer in the evening.  I am so much more motivated to get moving after work when it is still light out.  I have been running on the treadmill more these past few months but I am looking forward to being able to run outside. 
      I have been spending my time after work either exercising or working on paperwork.  With the switch to a new agency, there has been some additional paperwork to do.  Each agency has their own forms and procedures based on what the adoptive country requires.  This has been a little frustrating for me since I had hoped that part was behind us.  Every time I think we are moving forward to a new part of the journey, it seems we have to back track and start over.   But I am relying on God's timing and am trying to take this one day at a time. 
     So one of the things Kevin and I did this week was go down to City Hall and get fingerprinted.  We have never been fingerprinted before so that was a new experience.  We then sent our fingerprints off to the FBI and they will send us an "all clear" letter to prove that we are not criminals!  We also had to get more copies of our birth certificates and new medical forms.  St Mary's Adoptions has been very helpful and willing to keep in touch and answer any questions that we have.  They are currently working to get our home study ready to be scheduled. 





      Our new T-shirt store is up and running! We removed the Russian t-shirts and replaced them with different colors of the other t-shirts.  Adoption Bug doesn't have shirts for Poland yet. You can visit our new store here.    
    
We are also selling delicious coffee products at Just Love Coffee.


If you are thinking about adopting or know someone who is, here are some resources online that can help with the process and with funding:

www.resources4adoption.com/

http://showhope.org/

http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/

http://www.jeremiah29-11project.com/
 
     http://helpusadopt.org/
 

Don't forget to set your clocks forward tonight

 or you will be late for church tomorrow! 

 

Spring Is Coming

      It always makes my heart happy to flip the calendar from February to March.  I have nothing against the month of February with all of its hearts and flowers and talk of love, but I so look forward to the end of the short month.  March means the loosening of winter's hold and the beginning of warmth and greenery in Indiana.  I already have early spring plants like daffodils and tulips poking up through the cold dirt trying to find some rays of sunshine.  When I saw this, my thoughts turned to what spring in Poland would be like.  So I googled images of spring in Poland, and this is what I got

Not quite what I had in mind....

 

 

 

 

 I wanted something more like this picture of a public garden in Warsaw.

 

Or this picture of a nice Polish man riding his bicycle past some tulips.

 

 

     Anyway, I wish we were going to be there soon.  But we don't know yet what season we will be able to travel to meet our daughter(s).  We sent off the agreement to St Mary's this week.  This is just an official legal form between us and them clarifying our rights and responsibilities as well as the agency's responsibilities.  We are also working on getting new medical forms filled out.  Poland's form is much more extensive than the Russian form. We should be able to send those off this week.  Then we will schedule our home study with the social worker.  This is a major part of the process and we are ready to get his part done.

     Once the home study is done, we can really move forward with getting our grant applications in.  There are many agencies out there that will award grants to couples adopting internationally.  There are many more people applying than money available, so we are hoping to apply to many places. We are looking to apply to agencies such as Show Hope, Life Song for Orphans, and Gift of Adoption Fund.  We are glad that these organizations exist to help couples like us, but all of these places require a lot of paperwork.   Thankfully I am getting so good at filling these forms out I think I could do it in my sleep.

    Kevin and I are hoping to adopt two little girls from Poland.  While it costs a little more money, we would love to be blessed with at least two children and we think the transition would be easier for a child if she had a buddy.  In Poland, you can adopt two children as long as they are siblings.  So please pray that if it is God's will, that siblings are available to us when the time is right.  Please also pray that our grant applications will be accepted.

    We are holding on to the promise that God is already moving in this situation, even when we cannot see it or feel it.  

 

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.   Isaiah 43:19