Two Hands Are Better Than One

Hello, friends! Well, it's time for another post, and, as usual, it's taken longer than anticipated to put something together. We've actually been really close to posting a few different times the past couple of weeks, but when you're publishing thoughts for the entire internet world to see, it's easy to over analyze what it is you want to communicate. Eventually, you get tired of trying to find the right words and just put it off until another opportune time which usually doesn't end up presenting itself as soon as you hoped. Not that we've had much going on lately.

I'm kidding, of course. Like many of you, we've had a busy month including a very full Thanksgiving week: too much time on the road, too little time with family (some of you might disagree), too much food, and, for some, too little patience at the local retail stores. No, we are not against Black Friday. It does tend to overstimulate the "crazy" cells in some people's brains, but it can also be fun. We didn't hit the door running before daylight this year, but we did manage to snag a few deals for Christmas gifts in between family gatherings.

We also managed to be very productive on the adoption front. We had our final home study visit the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, though it wasn't at our home. We were able to meet our specialist on the road for the final portion of the study which worked out great. The visit went very well, and, at least for our part, the home study is done. We still have to wait on a formal approval from the agency, but that should happen in the next couple of weeks. Best of all, it's out of our hands now, so we don't have to complete any more tasks. If you've been keeping track, this means we are now done with 2 of the 3 requirements before we can become an active, waiting family.

One of the many, many pics we submitted

The only requirement that remains for us to complete is our family's profile (the published material birth mothers review when trying to decide which family they want for their child). It's essentially a collection of photos and narratives about different aspects of our family: community, lifestyle, extended family, traditions, etc. The written profile also contains a letter from the adoptive family to the birth parents. This was probably the hardest part to write, but we just submitted it last night. Now, we just need to send the agency pictures for our profile (already collected) so that their media team can put together our family's handout. Again, this means we are essentially done with our part of the profile and are just waiting to approve the agency's final product. Once we do, we will then be at a point, procedurally at least, to flip the switch on our activation.

Our goal has always been to be an official waiting family by February 1. From a paperwork standpoint, we'll likely be ready to go by the New Year. If you recall from one of our earlier posts, however, we also have to have access to all of our adoption funding prior to going active. Unfortunately, it's unlikely we'll reach that point prior to February meaning our focus the next couple of months will shift towards more aggressive saving and applying for some adoption assistance (this requires a completed home study which we will now have). We have a couple ideas for a second fundraising effort that we hope to organize through two agencies that work together, Lifesong For Orphans and Both Hands Foundation. Together, these agencies offer a unique approach to raising money for orphan care. Check out a short clip on the concept below or by clicking here. It's a cool idea, and we hope to organize a project soon.

 

 

As always, we are extremely grateful for everyone's support. Our family and friends have been such an encouragement throughout this process, and we wouldn't be at this point with their help. We greatly covet your prayers as we move a little closer each day to meeting our new kiddo. We only get more excited with each passing day, and Riley is especially ready to be a big sister. She's going to be awesome at it.

Thanks for tagging along with us. We'll talk to you all again in December...hopefully. :)