Waiting and Following Him

Well, I thought it was too good to be true...to have the home study done and mailed to us in a month, that is. I got an email from our social worker the other day,(we love her....we really do) saying she hasn't even started on our home study report yet! Ah!!!!!!!!!!! What? Not even started???? She said it would be another week or so. Hm, or so...what does that mean?

I'm slowly realizing that this entire process has really gone somewhat smoothly, so far, compared to some other families I know. The term "waiting" is taking on a whole other meaning!

"Be still and know that I am God," Psalm 46:10, comes to mind! Me, be still? Are you kidding? Scott teases me that I am an "instant gratification" type of person, you know, like the girl, Violet on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory..."I want it now!" If I see something and get my mind set on it, it will either be bought, or we will get it done! (Sorry, Bud, love you, but you married a non-patient person) He reallyis a saint for putting up with me! I admit it, patience is one of the virtues I struggle with the most! This whole process is just reaffirming the fact that I NEED to work on it!

I think the whole nine months of pregnancy is the perfect amount of time to mentally, physically and emmotionally prepare you for a newborn (unless they were like Tyler, who was very colicky, and then you need more time :)).

Is there any amount of time that will prepare you for a child, from a different country, who doesn't speak your language, who has been abandoned for whatever reason and "cared" for by someone else for possibly the first year of their life. I don't know if there is? We've have been given MOUNDS of books to read, contacts to speak with, and websites that will help "prepare" us for what is to come. Although, we don't know what is to come. Yes, it is important to drown ourselves in the pool of information given to us, to prepare us, and our home to receive this child.
I believe that this time is given to us to prepare us for what God has in store for us-what HE has mapped out for our lives. Not what WE are mapping our lives to become!

To keep my mind off of the waiting, I am excited to help start our church with an orphan ministry and to increase the awareness of God's children in the world who are needy and starving for a forever family. There is a song that I have become in LOVE with! It's by Leeland featuring Brandon Heath. It's called "Follow You" and it has really spoken to me. I hope you will listen to it.

(You might need to turn the volume down on my "playlist" at the bottom of this blog before you press play for this video).

Enjoy!!!

Back from Beach and ready for Business

We had such an awesome time at the beach this year with our family! It was such a good break from all the cleaning and projects we had done to the house to get ready for our home study. I loved seeing how the boys grow every year and the "risks" they are willing to take at the beach! Tyler boogie boarded most of the time, while Jake eventually waded out into the deeper water towards the last day. Brady made a friend with a 70ish year old man whom he named Maggie! Don't ask why he named him that, his name was Raul! He was his shadow the entire last day! Funny kid!

All in all we had a fabulous time and are now ready to start getting this adoption process underway!

Many friends have been asking how our home study went with our social worker. Hmm...what to say, what to say, other than, it was AMAZING!

Over 3 days, and four visits later, we knew we were OK! It's true what everyone says, about how you would clean your house like never before and they don't notice you've vacuumed! I will admit, I was a little upset she didn't go out to the playscape to see that we had sanded it!!! J/K. But, it would have been nice if she looked in the pantry to see how "organized" and "clean" we are, or were! Get the picture.

The day she arrived I went to pick her up at the airport. Scott stayed home with the kids because if anyone has ever taken a ride in our car, with all the kids, they'd know that would not be the perfect, quiet scenario! It would even be a good idea to wear earplugs in the car at times. So, battle #1 was fixed. When we walked in the door I thought Scott had drugged our kids, or the invasion of the body-snatchers had come to our house. They were angels. Not once did they argue, scream, or even use one of their familiar bodily functions! Sorry! They sat on the floor in the living room for an hour while we talked. That has NEVER happened!!! I think I prayed TOO hard for them to behave. I almost hoped (almost) they would have shown some signs of the "boys" they are. Oh, I forgot, Brady did point a gun at her and say, "I shoot you," and Jake told her to "kill all girls". Luckily she laughed and played along with them.

Our social worker couldn't have been nicer! She was definitely an answer to prayers! She even complimented us on how we were a "fairy tale" family, (whatever that means:)), and that she has never had a family she has worked with be so prepard to take on the task of adopting a possibly "special needs" (meaning probably needing speech therapy and ot) child. A lot of it had to do with how we had already gone through the process of speech and language therapy with Tyler. She was very impressed at both our family lives! I don't want to brag, but we do have the most awesome family!!! We wouldn't be the parents we are today if it weren't for our upbringing , (and our awesome friends/support system).

She said it would take her a month to complete her report. So, that's 2 more weeks! I'm calling her the day the two weeks are up! Once we get that, we can send it to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), with our "application to adopt" and wait for their approval (which usually takes 2 weeks). Then we will get fingerprinted and once we get those results, we can send that in with our dossier to Russia! Sounds so simple, right? Wrong! Russia makes EVERYTHING you notarize (which is a lot), apostilled. So, there's a lot of legal things, and dotting of i's and such to be done correctly.

Pray that everything goes smoothly so we can be put on the list in Russia! I so badly want to meet this little girl God has picked out for us!

On a more fun note, I purchase my first "girl" item! It was the cutest little bathing suit with ruffles on the bottom. I couldn't resist! I figured if I got a 2T she'd eventually grow into it at some time (or I could squeeze her into it:) ). Well, that's actually the second "girl" purchase. We needed a shower curtain for the other upstairs bathroom. Guess what color it is! Hot pink...with a little green!

Home Study Almost Here

If you ever wanted to thoroughly clean your home, get projects done that you've been putting off, fully baby-proof, (and somewhat adult proof) everything, get rid of clutter and all those toys that have pieces missing...then just schedule a home study! We've painted, put up curtains, new shower curtain (for the girls bathroom, of course...hot pink and green!), carried off 7 or 8 lawn trash bags full of just junk, (that's not counting the mountains of trash from our pantry) sanded the playscape, sanded and painted the front porch chairs, cleaned the garage, closets, etc, etc, etc. I know, I've heard many people say that everyone cleans like mad when their social worker comes to their home and she doesn't even notice you've vacuumed! At least I will have peace of mind that I did ALL I could to get ready. We want this week to go without a hitch! Funny, I've got three boys, there is NO way it will go smoothly, and that's OK. I just need to keep telling myself that!

So, yes, our social worker is coming here from Dallas on Tuesday and staying through Thursday. That's a long time! I have such mixed emotions about the whole visit. One side of me is thrilled that she is coming because it just means we are one step closer to getting our little girl! On the other side, I am freaking out because my children have been so crazy wild this summer...but, they are boys, right? I just hope and pray she has had a boy! Having boys means a loud and crazy fun home! My little boys are anything but calm! They are so sweet and loving in their own way. Our home is never quiet, or calm, or dull and boring. It's loud, messy, and full of little boy laughter...as well as some tears and screams (mainly from B)! I wouldn't want it any other way!

I am just praying that in the midst of all the madness, our social worker will see a wonderful, loving, fun family that ALL want to open their hearts for a little girl!

As I sit hear typing this, Jake is looking over my shoulder wanting to know what I am doing. I told him, "I'm writing a story to our friends and family about your sister." Jake replied, "Is she coming this week!" He's so excited and wants to meet her. I think he thinks our social worker is going to bring her here. He has no concept of time, and I envy that a little bit!

So, with all that being said, I would like to ask you to please pray that our visit this week will go smoothly. Pray that she will see the love of Christ pouring out of us onto this future daughter of ours. Pray that Brady will have a calm week (that sounds crazy...but it's necessary). Pray that Tyler and Jake will be able to show her how much of a WONDERFUL big brother they each are (couldn't ask for better big brothers!). Continue to pray that this little girl God has picked out for us will continue to feel His love and if she's not born yet, to continue to help the birth mother make wise choices.

As I'm typing this, I am reminded of one of my favorite verses; Philippians 4:6,7 " Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension , will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." How refreshing!

Will let you know how it goes!

We are headed to the beach on Saturday with Scott's family...will post some pics when we get back! A great way to relax after the past few weeks we've had!

Kirsten