Part 7 of how the Lord brought us to adopt.
So, the last blog post of our story of adoption mentioned my mom retiring, selling her house and moving in with our family. Our older son also graduated from college and moved back to town for his job and moved back in with us for the summer while he saved up $ for a car and apartment of his own. What once was an empty nest, has quickly filled up again. Our recent life has been a whirlwind. The blog was set aside temporarily. Finally, I am glad to be back to finish the story…
Since adoption was now our goal, our next step after being licensed to foster parent was to do the required Adoption Home Study.
The home study began with a very long questionnaire for each of us to fill out. It took hours to answer all the questions about ourselves, our backgrounds, our family and extended family, our motivations for adoption, our financial picture, etc. When we finally felt they were complete, we sent them to DCCCA to review.
DCCCA reviewed our questionnaire, asked more questions for clarification on some of our answers and did another home inspection. In addition to the questionnaire, we had to have physicals, draw safety plans for our house in case of emergencies like fire and tornadoes, as well as provide personal references. Then they wrote up the official Home Study for us.
Once all this was turned in, we had to wait. It seemed as though we waited for months for approval to adopt. It took so long, we really started to wonder if we would be turned down.
Waiting is one of my least favorite things to do. If I can avoid waiting in line, sign me up! But, waiting on the Lord to open doors, to guide, and to provide, is a very critical part of walking with Him. While we waited, we continued to pray. Our prayers were for approval and for a good match with the child God had in mind for us.
When we finally heard we had been approved to adopt, our oldest daughter’s husband, who is a pastor, was led to resign his position at a church on the East Coast due to doctrinal differences. So, while they were in between positions, they and their kids moved in with us temporarily. God used this new situation to slow down our adoption process since we did not want to bring a foster child into our home until their family was settled into a new position and home of their own.
Waiting can be so hard, but God’s timing is amazing and His wisdom is far above ours. Looking back, we are so grateful for this truth and God’s timing in our adoption process! More about that next time.
ADOPTION RISING 