3 to 4 Pages?!!

The task at hand:  Autobiographies

Okay, the other week I started on my autobiography and it was a rough go.  I was so proud of myself when I got the rough draft typed up earlier this week.  A whole page and a half was written!!!  Wow, I'm thinking...over achiever.  Well, today I got ahold of AFAA's formal application and it states that each parent needs to submit a 3 to 4 page autobiography.  What?!  That's double what it took me forever to come up with!  I do understand that the country of Lesotho would like a little bit of information on us and it's kind of important for them to know what we are about :)  Saying that...this has been the toughest part of the paperwork so far...and I have a feeling I will be having to help edit another one.  Jason's not big on writing so this will be a fun task for him too! :)  Well, I spent so much time thinking about the 3 to 4 pages thing that I didn't do anything on it tonight.  Maybe in the next few days ahead I will make some progress.  Wish us luck!

Home Study # 2!

My Easter evening was spent mostly cleaning the house...and my car.  I decided that since the weather man was predicting 6 to 8 inches of rain in a weekend that I would leave my car windows down and back my car out of the nice dry garage and let it sit out for 7.5 hours.  Nice! 

On another note...tonight was our walk through home study visit and our joint interview.  The walk through went really well and was pretty simple.  Then we had an interview as a couple and it was actually kind of fun.  It was fun to listen to Jason answer questions about his childhood, parenting views and then me :)  Our social worker asked him what he admired most about me...and then one thing he would want to change.  Yesh...loaded question! :)  I think she got a kick out of us after awhile.  She quickly caught on to how laid back Jason was and how laid back I'm not :)  Guess we make a good pair!

Then for the wild man....Cash did really good!  I'm so proud of him.  Since it was raining we couldn't kick him outside during the visit so...we had a talk beforehand and asked him to be on his best behavior.  He was a bit too excited to meet our social worker but after the walk through he calmed down.  She told us that she has 2 labs. (yay! she understands!)  During the entire interview he laid on top of our feet and snored. 

It was a good evening and we felt like we connected with our social worker more tonight.  She is very sweet and I'm glad we get to work with her.  We have one more visit scheduled where Jason and I will be interviewed separately.  We will continue to work on getting papers together and then have a physical coming up at the end of May. 

Good Song...Better Message

Pluggin' Away

We've been going full speed since our 1st home study meeting last Monday.  Every day last week Jason and I ran errands...getting fingerprints done, local police clearance, trips to the post office, and passport photos taken.  This week we are getting ready for our walk-through home study visit (which is next Monday) and working on our 10 credit hours of adoption training.  There is always something to think about and something to work on. 
A couple of people at our work have really stepped up and helped us get the word out on our wristbands and it has been so encouraging!  People I don't even know and probably will never meet have bought bands and it's awesome to watch it spread around!
We are plugging along and hope to see some of these bits and pieces come together.  I've got a checklist on our refrigerator and I'm ready to check some more things off!

Cash is always up for updating the blog!



Moved by Graciousness...

We've had some amazing financial support in the last few weeks and God continues to amaze us through others.  When Jason and I began leaning toward an international adoption, we knew money was going to be a huge hurdle.  From the beginning I wanted this process to not only remind me but show others just how big God is.  We don't have high yearly incomes and knew that getting money to bring this baby home would be a complete step of faith. 
Our journey is not just about us and friends and family have made that very clear.  God is working in the hearts of those around us and to that we are so grateful.  We've witnessed giving already like we've never experienced and I'm not sure how you tell someone "thank you" for something like that.  Your faithfulness to Him has blessed us!
People at work have been buying wristbands this week and showing their support.  That's a big deal to us and it melts my heart every single time it happens.  We've been blessed by a great group of co-workers that are quickly feeling like family.
God is good; He is faithful; and He is BIG.

Wristbands Are In!!!!

Wristbands are $5 each;
Choose from BLACK or WHITE; both colors read:
"150 Million Orphans (on front)...Journey to 1(on back)"

To order : 
# 1:  Email:  kflora24@hotmail.com - specify color/quantity 
 #2:  Use the "donate" button to the left

AND....We thank you for helping us get one step closer to that baby!

Home Study #1

We got home study visit one complete tonight!  We got to meet our social worker who was very sweet and had to sign a lot of papers.  I've got a check list of things I need to get to her as soon as possible and we have 10 credit hours of International Adoption Training to take online.  I feel like our adoption could get complicated with having to work with 2 agencies.  We have one here locally to do our home study.  Our 2nd one is in Indiana and they will be the ones that will actually do our adoption placement.  Some of the requirements between the two are different which could make things tricky.  This is going to require a lot of organization :) (and for that, we'll need prayers!!!)
We are working on scheduling visit #2 in the next week or two.  At this visit I think there will be more anxiety...we will do a marital interview and then she will walk around our house and check that we meet certain requirements.  We've got a few things to get done before that visit...installing a carbon monoxide detector, buying a gun safe, etc. 
In other news, I got to meet a precious baby from Ethiopia!  There is a group here in town that get together once a month and each of the families have adopted...some from Africa, Vietnam, etc.  Friends of ours have adopted from Ethiopia and I finally got to meet her this weekend at one of their get-togethers and she was PRECIOUS!  Makes me excited to have our own and thankful for a group like that, that can meet up and share a common bond.

On the Way!

We've ordered customized silicone bracelets (like the one below) for fundraising and they are on the way!  We should get them in a couple weeks and are excited about them :)   (it's the little things!)

We also have our first home study visit scheduled for next Monday.  I'm not sure what to expect on that meeting but I'm hoping it goes good.  I've read about a lot of people that really freaked out about the home study process and I'm trying to not be one of them.  I'm hoping that just being ourselves will get the job done.  As I understand it there are 3 different meetings that will take place with some possible training in between.  I'll post more on that as I get more information.

Walkin' By Faith

 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Brad from our church at The Pursuit brought a message this morning that really hit home to us.  His message was based on the verse listed above and what a great text to meditate on throughout this adoption process.  As Brad was preaching this morning he stated that when we walk by faith that it's not always going to be based on facts or give you warm fuzzy feelings.  A lot of people out there might think Jason and I are crazy in this economy to be trying to adopt a child from a third world country.  Some may think it's too tough; it's too expensive; it takes too long; it's too unstable, etc, etc.  The fact is---is that it is tough, it is expensive, it is a lengthy process and there are a lot of things that can happen along the way...and thankfully Jason and I aren't relying on ourselves as we walk through this.  When God calls you to something...to a profession, to move somewhere, to talk to someone, to adoption...it is not always comfortable but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do it. 

Jason and I used this verse on our wedding program almost 5 years ago so it seems fitting to keep looking to this text in the next stage of our lives.  God says He will make our paths straight when we trust in Him with all we have.  So as we walk on, we will keep reminding each other of this promise!

A Bday Celebration!!

We had an early birthday dinner for Jason tonight and my Mom and I took him to Hinode and ate Japanese food! It was delicious!  Unfortunately we didn't have the dragon and banging cymbal ladies come out and sing him "Happy Birthday" but I think we got it celebrated anyway.  Jay turns 31 on Monday-April 4th and I wanted to wish him a very Happy Birthday!  I love you and can't wait to watch you become a Dad and take on a new role.  Love you Jay!