The Home Study Continues ...

Last night was our second visit from the social worker. I wasn't as nervous this time around. It just felt like a visit from a friend! Part of her role will be to help us make the adjustment when we bring our child home and to be a support through the process. She spent some time reviewing and explaining various medical and emotional issues that are typically associated with children adopted internationally and discussed some adjustment issues we can expect after we return with our child. We'll be starting our training this week, so we'll get a little more in depth look at some of the issues we may be facing. She also focused on my interview. I completed a 14 page questionnaire (my homework) since her last visit and we reviewed my answers together. Chad's interview begins when she returns on Monday (he'll do his homweork over the weekend).

We have already completed many of the required forms and collected much of the required documentation for the home study, which should be finished by mid-May. So far, we have been able to pay cash for everything, which has been such a gift! We already had some money in savings and a few people have donated to help us pay for our 'startup' expenses. We are so grateful! Our goal is to stay as debt-free as possible during the early stages of the adoption ... at least until we can begin applying for grants and loans, which are not available until the home study is complete. All of the organizations that we have found providing grants and loans for adoption will require that we submit a copy of the completed home study with our application. So getting through this first step is crucial to funding the rest.

This week, we'll be sending our application to the CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services), which is a division of Homeland Security. We'll also be fingerprinted and get our passports. Then we'll turn our attention back to compliling the various documents required for our dossier. Thankfully, the home study fee is not due until it has been completed by the social worker, which will be sometime in May. These are pretty big expenses, but we know the Lord will continue to provide for everything. He has already provided so much!

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us, listened to us, encouraged us and supported us up to this point. It has been an amazing process so far and we are amazed at how quickly everything has been moving along. Stay tuned for more updates. We'll keep you posted!!