Homestudy Revised

Well we thought we were almost there until our agency in Oregon sent the homestudy back to the social worker. Our Guardianship plan has to be re-written. You see we have my parents listed as our guardians should something happen to my husband and I; but they are "too old." Okay -- they have obviously never seen my dad -- he's the youngest 68 yo I've ever met. But we've gotten that taken care of and are in the process of getting all the new information to our social worker - then it will again be reviewed by AGCI and we can move forward. So the homestudy saga continues ......

Pray works!

I came home Friday to the most delightful message. Our social worker called to say that our TN CPS check was IN! We can officially wrap up our homestudy now. I will be calling her first thing Monday morning to set the appointment for us to review it before it goes to AGCI for the final review. It is so wonderful to be on the movement path again! I am so excited to be finally wrapping up the last final peice of the dossier.

My hope is that we will be able to have everything apositilled this week and then overnighted to AGCI by the end of the week. I'll keep you posted on those plans.

The yard sale is finished and now we can move forward to putting the house back together and getting those rooms ready!

Praying that the third time is the charm

Our social worker just emailed us to say that she is faxing a third request for the TN CPS check today. I am praying that the 'third time is the charm' as they say! It would be so amazing to be done with the homestudy in the next week or so.

Even as I sit here getting excited (again) that there is a possibility to be wrapping up the homestudy soon, I marvel at God's timing. While we've known for a few months that this was exactly what we were supposed to be doing - that decision has been confirmed many times in the past few weeks. It has made our faith just that much stronger and our excitment that much more contagious.

We will keep you updated!

House work is moving along!

Although our paperwork is "stuck" we are moving along to get our rooms cleaned out for the "big switch" We are COMMITTED to the yard sale this Saturday -- yes committed to the point that the ads went in the newspaper this morning and our dining room overflows with yard sale 'treasures'. The idea is that on Saturday whatever goes out of the house STAYS out. If it doesn't sell it's going to the Goodwill.

Once this weekend is over my oldest dd's new room should be empty. Then onto painting and cleaning the carpet. Then the next step will be to get her brand new bedroom furniture. In her 16 years of life she's never had bedroom furniture that wasn't hand me downs so that is exciting for her. After she is set we will start on our other daughter's room and lastly our son to be's room.

Lots of work to do but the first step is the yard sale! YEA-HAW the stuff is going out of here!!

Still no news ....

I wish I had new news to update our friends - but alas we still wait for the Tenn CPS form to be returned. Now I know that it CAN take up to 8 weeks for this ... but now I know that in Tenn 8 weeks really means 8 WEEKS! It has been two months now waiting for that one final piece of paper. But that's okay because as a fellow blogger friend reminded us today that Life is Short! We need to live in the now and not in the future. So in the now, my two teenage girls continue to wrap up their school year (just a reminder -- we homeschool) and my oldest teenager and I get ready to start our summer job. Life goes on .......
This summer promises to be busy as usual -- jobs, lots of church activities, family reunions, vacations at the beach (YEAH!), and our normal daily routine. And with the normal routine there is some comfort that life goes on and we praise God for that even in the wait!

Birthday Wish

Tomorrow is my birthday! I will be (old!) : ) I've been asked what I want for my birthday from my girls and I keep coming back to the same thing in my mind. I want a phone call from our social worker saying that they have received that last peice of information and we can come and review the home study. I know that I am getting really anxious now - everything was moving so fast so I expected a slowdown but I was not expecting that slowdown to come until our paperwork was in country getting registered. However, I have committed it to prayer and am trying really hard to let it go and just not think about it.
In the mean time, today we go shopping (for clothes, Yankee Candles and great smelling lotions and soaps from Bath & Body Works). You know I'm thinking that's not something our little guy will enjoy too much -- so when he gets here he can hang with Dad while the girls spend money : )
To all my adoption buddies -- enjoy today, it will not be here tomorrow! God bless you all and remember someone is praying for you and our future sons and daughters.

God is moving!

I now know why we've had the delay in our paperwork at the Tennessee CSP office. The world would say it is because they are moving offices and "lost" the first request. I would tell you it's because God has been moving in our lives and I needed a little more time to fully understand and comply with his requests! After prayer and discussions, Greg and I have decided to change the age of the child we would like to adopt. We talked with our social worker yesterday and are going to be asking for an older child (4-7 years old). After watching the DVD "Love Knows No Borders" we felt like God was leading us to give a home to an older child. It's exciting because quite honestly I was a little worried about the toddler stage anyway. We are a little older than some parents and have had the wonderful blessing of already raising three daughters to "teenage hood" so it's kinda been awhile since I've been a mommy to a toddler. When I first started feeling the stirrings of God working, I was a little unsure - it may not seem like much going from 1-4 years old to 4 - 7 years old but I know that an older child will have an entirely different set of challenges. I pray that God will equip us and I still know that he has the perfect son in mind for us.
As we've been waiting for the past three weeks for this one peice of paper to complete the homestudy, God's been working! Never ever forget that God is always in control and when we allow our hearts to be open to his plans, he'll bless your socks off!
I'm praying for my new adoption buddies and today I pray that you all have wonderful news on your future sons and daughters! God bless you all!