God is always doing something, I know this! Right now, I know He is up to something in our adoption process. I am not sure what it is, but it is something.
I think I have been patiently waiting in this "lull" that we are in of our process. It feels like for months every time somebody says, "How is the adoption process going" I answer with the same thing, "We are just waiting on A, B, and C and then hopefully we can move on to our home study.
Just recently, I have been getting a little antsy. We haven't gotten our FBI fingerprint results back yet, it has been over 2 months and most people get there's back in about 30 days. Our contact at the agency has been e-mail those in charge of this to see what the hold up is.
We have been trying to get in touch with the fire inspector for over 2 months. I have called and left messages every other day or so with no response. Finally, I e-mailed our contact at the agency who put me in contact with another person and she sent me to a website where I was to print off an application and physically take it into the Fire Marshal's office for our county. I was all set with the application and ready to walk out the door when guess who calls? The inspector we had been trying to contact! I try to set up a date and he informs me that I need a permit before he can come out. We had heard nothing about getting a permit, so boy was I confused. I try to call the agency, but nobody answers. I know they are busy. So, I decide to go ahead with the application and see what the people at the fire marshal's office say. Thankfully, I walk in there and I am the only "customer" in the building. The ladies at the desk informed me that where I lived was in the county but it was also in the city of Houston so there office couldn't service me. As you can imagine, I am starting to get really frustrated now. One of the ladies notices my frustration and tell me that she is a private inspector and she would be happy to come inspect our home. She also prints off a list of all the things that need to be done before she comes out to our house. Praise the Lord!
I don't know why all the hoops are necessary, but I do know that there is a reason for the hold ups in these areas. I may never see the reason, but I know God does and that is the one thing that puts me at peace.
So we are moving along, at God's pace and knowing that He has got this!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Cupcakes and Hospitality
A week ago, I went to this event at a local church where the speaker talked about hospitality and how it is not just a gift that some of us have, but a command given to all Christians. Her challenge to all the ladies in the room was to have at least one person or family in the next 30 days. I began to think of all the people to invite in to our home. My excuse for each of these people was that it would be weird to have this family or couple over when my husband is out of town. So, for the time being, I decided I would still practice hospitality but would take them something instead of having them over.
Lilly and I made cupcakes - fancy ones, too - not just the ones from a box. These were snicker doodle cupcakes with cinnamon icing! They were delicious! I had decided I was going to take some over to a few neighbors. I got ready to take 2 over to one set of neighbors and just before decided I would go and check the mail. I am glad I did because I noticed that they had out of town visitors at their house. So, I was able to call and find out how many visitors were there so that we had enough for each person. The visit was short, but it was the first time we had been in our neighbors home and it was so nice to meet their out of town family.
Next, we took a few over to another neighbor down the street. We are getting ready for their pool and cats while they go out of town so we had to go over and get the information. It was such a warm feeling to go over there with the cupcakes. It's amazing how giving can make you feel so much better than receiving.
The next day, as Lilly and I were walking our dog, one of the neighbors came out of their house, in their pajamas to tell us how yummy the cupcakes were. Another neighbor stopped us on the trails to tell us how great they were. I am super glad they enjoyed them, and I am loving the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing connected with each of them in a new way.
It is so amazing how much more fulfilling it is to give than to receive. We decided we are going to do that a little more because it did give us a warm, fuzzy feeling.to give to our neighbors.
Lilly and I made cupcakes - fancy ones, too - not just the ones from a box. These were snicker doodle cupcakes with cinnamon icing! They were delicious! I had decided I was going to take some over to a few neighbors. I got ready to take 2 over to one set of neighbors and just before decided I would go and check the mail. I am glad I did because I noticed that they had out of town visitors at their house. So, I was able to call and find out how many visitors were there so that we had enough for each person. The visit was short, but it was the first time we had been in our neighbors home and it was so nice to meet their out of town family.
Next, we took a few over to another neighbor down the street. We are getting ready for their pool and cats while they go out of town so we had to go over and get the information. It was such a warm feeling to go over there with the cupcakes. It's amazing how giving can make you feel so much better than receiving.
The next day, as Lilly and I were walking our dog, one of the neighbors came out of their house, in their pajamas to tell us how yummy the cupcakes were. Another neighbor stopped us on the trails to tell us how great they were. I am super glad they enjoyed them, and I am loving the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing connected with each of them in a new way.
It is so amazing how much more fulfilling it is to give than to receive. We decided we are going to do that a little more because it did give us a warm, fuzzy feeling.to give to our neighbors.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
In Case You Were Wondering...
It has been 7 months since we started the adoption process. In my head we should be finished by now but there have been a few bumps in the road, and I know that it is just God's way of directing us to his time table and not our own.
Back in May, my husband came home from his work trip and told me that the company was restructuring and they were letting lots of people go. He thought they might have a position for him after they were finished moving people around but it turned out they did not. He got severance pay so that was definitely helpful in covering out bills, but we knew they would not put a child in our home without either of us having a job.
The agency that we are working with - DePelchin Children's Center - stated in some of their paperwork that if you had a "life change" you would have to wait a year before going through the process. We really didn't want to start all over being this close to home study, so we sent an e-mail. We told them we were confident in Mark getting another job soon and that we wanted to continue with the process as much as possible. They said ok - yeah!
Praise God, Mark does have a new job now. He will have to work a lot of hours during the training process but what a blessing that he will be home every evening. I think this will be a great thing when it comes to adopting a child and of course, for our own sweet Lilly.
So now, we are ready to go to home study to be "reviewed." Please pray that they find us fit to adopt and that our house will not need too many repairs in order to meet their qualifications.
Back in May, my husband came home from his work trip and told me that the company was restructuring and they were letting lots of people go. He thought they might have a position for him after they were finished moving people around but it turned out they did not. He got severance pay so that was definitely helpful in covering out bills, but we knew they would not put a child in our home without either of us having a job.
The agency that we are working with - DePelchin Children's Center - stated in some of their paperwork that if you had a "life change" you would have to wait a year before going through the process. We really didn't want to start all over being this close to home study, so we sent an e-mail. We told them we were confident in Mark getting another job soon and that we wanted to continue with the process as much as possible. They said ok - yeah!
Praise God, Mark does have a new job now. He will have to work a lot of hours during the training process but what a blessing that he will be home every evening. I think this will be a great thing when it comes to adopting a child and of course, for our own sweet Lilly.
So now, we are ready to go to home study to be "reviewed." Please pray that they find us fit to adopt and that our house will not need too many repairs in order to meet their qualifications.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)