Our Journey to Adoption- Part 2

This adoption process is hard......  

Technically, it started for us back in April when we made that initial phone call.  In May we had our first office visit and began to collect the documents we will need to submit.  We had to get our fingerprints, a background check, a physical, TB test, DMV records, 5 references, a fire extinguisher and fire safety evaluation of our home...... We had to take 40 hours worth of training, which actually was beneficial in helping us put ourselves in the place of the children and families in the foster care system.  We also chose to take an additional 6 hour class to be certified as Therapeutic Foster Care Parents.  We had to fill out pages upon pages of paperwork and still have to purchase the necessary items that we need in order to double lock all of our medicines, prescription and over the counter.  

So now we wait..... We're hoping to have our Homestudy appointments completed by the end of October and all our paperwork submitted by the end of November.  Then we will wait some more..... After we are "approved", the matching process begins.  I have no idea how that happens, but I can imagine it could be difficult.  We have looked on the state's website that shows the children that are currently available for adoption and we've identified several children we'd be interested in learning more about.  

All of the children available for adoption have experienced trauma in their lives, some more than others.  Adding a child into our home will be hard and we will have to make some changes in our priorities and our schedule to accommodate the needs of the child/children.  Most of all, we will need to depend on God every minute of the day, turning to Him with our needs, knowing that He will provide everything we need!

A friend recently posted her emotions regarding their adoption process....She said they are "overwhelmed and overjoyed".  Those words are a perfect description of this process..... I am thankful for the moments of joy that help to balance out the moments of being overwhelmed!