We Are Approved

We have official approval!! May 25, 2016 is the date that we have officially been approved to adopt in the state of Virginia!

Truth be told, when we attended our first meeting in October and submitted the paperwork in November, I believed that we would be approved by February. I actually know that there are a couple babies that could have been matches for us had we been approved a few months ago. But I know that this timing is all God’s. Each and every delay, even the frustrating ones, were put in place to ensure that we would not be approved until May 25, 2016.

One of the benefits of this delay has been the work that God is doing in my heart. Just from January to now I feel like He has brought me into a much deeper relationship with Him; a place where I have learned to be content in the waiting and someone who can more easily accept the periods of confusion when God’s will doesn’t match up with my expectations. I am so thankful for that.

God is good.

God is either good or He is not. There is no in between, He cannot be good sometimes and not others, He is not wishy washy. And when you stop to boil that down and really accept that, it means that God is good all of the time. He is good when He heals and He is good when He does not. He is good when your situation makes sense and when it does not. But to really know that and understand it takes faith. I can say that God is good all I want, but if I do not take a step of faith in choosing to believe it, and actually put my comfort in it, then I will find no comfort, that saying will remain words on a page and not a part of my heart.

I am excited about what the future holds for my family, but I am also nervous. In being willing to adopt special needs we run the risk of NICU stays, surgeries, and potentially life threatening situations. That scares me. We could adopt a perfectly healthy child and have an easy transition, or we could adopt a child who needs specialized medical care that causes my family to be separated. Truthfully, this could happen with any child, but there’s something different about sitting on the outside of a pregnancy and praying for health and safety for both mother and baby. But still, God is good. He is good if our child is healthy and He is good if our child is not. He is good if we cry tears of joy when this is all said and done and He is good if we cry tears of pain.

I’m sorry, I guess I expected to write a happier message today about our approval, because truly I am happy and excited. Reading the home study and seeing the assessment of our family was surprisingly encouraging. Despite all of the times I feel like I have let down my family, our social worker sees loving, supportive, and attentive parents, which is all we want to be. Of course, she also described our yard as ‘well maintained’, so there’s that. I am ready to meet the little one that God is preparing our family for, but I am ready to wait and in the waiting become the mom that he needs.

Finances:

As of May 18 when our T-shirt fundraiser ended, we had fundraised $1778.30 between our t-shirts, GoFundMe, and our Crossfit fundraiser! Add to that over $600 from our Pampered Chef fundraiser, over $300 from our Cute E’s Photography, $300 personal donations from friends (outside of GoFundMe), and our friend and Plexus distributor who donated a portion of her team sales, we’ve received over $3200 in donations!!! That is amazing! Additionally, we have saved enough to cover half of our next fee of $9000. We are currently getting together a loan and will pay that fee so we are an active waiting family. We can now apply for grants and continue our fundraising efforts alongside that to pay the second half of the fees for this adoption (approximately 15,000 left). Thanks to each and everyone of you for being involved and for supporting our family. I’m thankful to share this journey with you all.