May 2023 Update: Working Through the Waiting
Hey friends and family,
It has been six months since we have put out an update on our adoption. WOW! Please do know we are still chipping away at the process. There seems to be a lot to report, and nothing to report at the same time.
Home Study: We have met with our social worker three times now, and we love our great home study team at Wide Horizons. We’ve gone over almost every aspect of our lives—from our finances to physical health and mental health—they’ve inspected our home, gone through our family history, and so much more! At this point, I like to joke that they know more about us than we do about ourselves! Our only hold-up right now is our background checks from the State of Vermont. We have been waiting for them to respond for about six months now. We’ll admit, it’s pretty frustrating, because we cannot apply for most grants until the home study is completed, and there are a few steps to do after that to complete the home study. Until we get those in, we just wait!
Education: J. and I have completed our education hours! We have done everything from reading books and listening to podcasts to doing online webinars. Topics range from prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol to interracial adoption, and tons of stuff in between. In total, there were 24 hours of education to do, but I think we may have done more than that. We are glad to be done with it, but thankful that Nightlight is so thorough in making sure we are equipped for our adoption.
Profile Book: We are working with Our Chosen Child to create our profile book. If you are not sure what a profile book is, here are some samples. This has been a hard process for J. and I. Turns out, when one person writes a lot in their job, and the other is a professional photographer, having to write and photograph ourselves is pretty tough. We are thankful to be almost done with ‘the book.’ We just have a few more photos of us to get, and then they will go into production! Since they are looking for photos of J. and me together, there has been a lot of setting up the tripod, putting the camera on a timer, and working to get a photograph. I am sure the neighbors have had a laugh watching us outside from time to time getting the photographs.
Nightlight Visit: In March, J. and I drove down to South Carolina to celebrate multiple birthdays in our family. While there, we were able to stop by the Nightlight office in Greer, South Carolina. Our adoption counselor works from that office, and we got to meet a good portion of their team in person. They were so nice to let us join their team meeting, and they took the time to answer all of our questions. After leaving, we were so encouraged by our choice to work with Nightlight.
In the end, we cannot move forward in our adoption until we get our home study completed, and we cannot do that until we hear back on our background checks. Thankfully, J. and I do not feel rushed to adopt. We are incredibly happy together, and we know that if it is in God’s timing, it will happen, and it will happen in his timing. Meanwhile, we continue to live our lives and do so for the glory of God. J. is still pastoring Washington Baptist Church, where the church just celebrated its 175th anniversary! I am still working at the Agency of Education, and Granger is still keeping us on our toes and being the cutest pup we know.