Application approval, Home Visit and Miracles!

First of all, we got a letter stating that our application was approved! Woohoo! This is just saying they approved our application, and will move forward with our homestudy, not that we are officially "approved" and waiting to be matched. Nontheless, we were thrilled :)

Now, we had our home visit this past Saturday, and we even lived to tell about it! Of course, everyone tells you not to be nervous and that it is no big deal. So I took their advice and didn't worry one bit! I wish that it was that easy! I was nervous, and felt a little overwhelmed leading up to it, but held myself together, for the most part. One mini meltdown was just par for the course in my opinion! I think because we were running around like crazy people trying to pick up donations for our yard sale, organize that stuff, prepare for our home visit, complete paper work, and squeeze in trying to celebrate my mother in laws, father in laws and hubbys birthday, as well as Father's Day, it was just a bit much. Oh yeah, and the work thing.

Anyways, the caseworker showed up right on time and began her inspection. She made us feel so at ease and just kind of looked around and took notes about the set up of our house. Believe it or not, no white glove test! (Which, BTW, we would have passed with flying colors! I don't think my house had ever been that clean! Ha!) That lasted all of about 5 minutes, and then we sat at the table and chatted, went over paperwork, and she gave us our homework (MORE paperwork). A lot of the time was just spent chatting in general, which made us feel so much more comfortable. She was there around 2 and a half hours, but it didn't seem like it was that long at all. She told us that we gave her some ideas about how she wants to remodel her home in NY, and that she wanted me to decorate. I'm sure they are trained to say this sort of thing to put you at ease, but it made me feel better, so I'll take it :) Of course, Misty (our dog) decided that it would be a prime time to vomit all over the floor. Poor pup! Richard cleaned it up right away and the caseworker seemed amused by it. Hey, one thing had to go not according to plan, and I guess this was it. Oh well, no biggie!

 
I can't even express the gratitude we have for all of the people who have donated items for our yard sale. We have more than we could have imagined, and it is so humbling to be on the receiving end of this. I can not thank everyone enough for their donations, and I have been trying to stay on top of thank you cards, so I hope I haven't missed anyone! Bear with me :) 


My friends have been collecting, and organizing our items. We are hosting it at our good friend Mandie's house, and thankfully for me, God made her OCD and she has been organizing this mountain of items like a crazy person! She just can't help herself, and I'm not gonna fight her on it! Our other friends have been troopers, braving the heat of the garage to deal with our mountain as well. I don't know what I would do without their help! Thankful doesn't seem to even describe it!

I have made it known that our belief is that this journey we are on is a total God thing. This was never something that was part of "our plan", but God planted this seed and we are going at it full of faith that He will make a way, even when there seems to be no way! I can't even describe the feeling of watching and knowing that God is moving in big ways to make His plan come to life. I don't like this to be all about money, because at the end of the day, this is about bringing a child into a forever home and expanding our family. BUT, I just have to share the way that God has led people to give in ways we never would have imagined.

We set up a savings account designated for adoption funds only. We raised $412, through loose saving loose change and a side job or two, before we mailed our application. Our application fee was $400. We paid that, and had $12 left over in that account. We were hoping that the yard sale would raise enough to pay for part of our homestudy. That fee is $1,800. Well, in the past two weeks, that account has gone from $12 to over $1,400!!! And we haven't even held our yard sale.  One very generous couple has felt that God has led them to give their tithe money to us while they are currently between churches. Someone else cashed in an investment, and out of that, gave us an extremely generous donation. Others have mailed checks and put cash in the jar that sits on the counter at the salon.  God's provision is perfect and He is faithful! 

This past weekend at church, Pastor Todd spoke about miracles. He talked about how sometimes God takes us the long way around, because that will make our miracle all the more rich. He teaches us lessons along the way, puts people in our paths that we would have never come across otherwise, and helps us form our testimony. He talked about how we need not to despise the journey, because during that time, we come to know Jesus in a way we never would have experienced otherwise.  He said "Sometimes the greatest disappointments in life are just a setting for the biggest miracle of your life." WOW. WOW. I just had to share that because I feel like it is so fitting to our story. And so many other stories of people who are on all walks of life and going through all different things. I am posting a link to his sermon, and I highly encourage you to watch it. It was a perspective I hadn't thought of before. 

Pastor Todd on Miracles <---- Enjoy :)

Well, that was quick!

We sent our application into Children's Home Society one week ago. During the last week, I have completed my "Life Story" (its a lengthy question and answer type packet) and all of the other paperwork that I currently have. Richard is about 1/2 way done with his "Life Story". I spoke with our caseworker yesterday, and they received it and we are moving forward (officially!). She told me that she wants to come do our home visit in the next TWO WEEKS, before she goes on vacation. I have no idea why, but for some reason, I thought there would be a lot more time in between the application and a home visit, so I froze up a little and got nervous. I don't know why I want more time, but for some reason, I was so scared! We need to put carpet in our guest room (future nursery), but other than that, there isn't anything major that needs to be done before we are baby ready. She assured me that the non carpet would not be an issue, and that she isn't even looking at that sort of stuff. Just making sure that we don't have any dangers in our home (pool without a fence, exposed wires, making sure we have a fire extinguisher and proper smoke alarms). I would be lying if I said I still wasn't freaking out   a little nervous. Now, I am just waiting to hear back from her to schedule the date. I need to keep this verse at the top of my mind "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6. 

Other than that, we are just focusing on our fundraising events that we have coming up.

• We have our BIG garage sale coming up June 29th in Stuart. This will go to support Richard and I, and Karen and her husband Matt as they go through the process as well. We are so humbled by peoples donations. I have been picking up items from people for the last two weeks, and have quite a few more stops to make! We have a wide variety of items, ranging from baby toys and clothes, adult clothing, dishes, books, furniture, household items and much more. THANK YOU to everyone who has and will be contributing!!! Now we just have to pray for cooperative weather :)

•  Karen Smith (her and her hubby's blog is http://smithfamilyimport.com), and I are organizing a super fun event called a Quarter Auction. If you haven't ever been (or even if you have!) to one, you will want to make sure you don't miss this!! Basically, you purchase a paddle (like an auction) at the door, and sit at a table. In the middle of your table there is a bowl. There are numerous vendors auctioning off all sorts of items. They stand up front, tell about the item they auctioning off, and how many quarters they are asking for it (usually 1-3 quarters per item). If you are interested in that item, you put the amount of quarters they asked for into the bowl on your table and hold up your paddle. Then the announcer draws a number from a basket and if it matches your paddle, you win the item! So you can potentially win some great items for very cheap! Oh, and you will be supporting a great cause :) We are planning, as of now, for Thursday, July 18th. Start saving your quarters!

• Sunday, July 21st, I am hosting a day at The House Of Refuge for people to come have mini photo sessions. My sweet friend Sarah Curtis is donating her time and photography skills to take the pictures. We had 14 slots available, and filled them all!! The sessions will last around 20 minutes, the cost is $50, and you will get a CD with print rights of your pictures. 

So, mark your calendars! I am so thankful to everyone who is helping these events happen behind the scenes!! I wouldn't be able to do any of this without all of the support and prayers from my sweet friends and family!