Several of you have call to see where WE (love the we!) are at with adoption paperwork this week; I've been so busy doing the paperwork, I've forgotten to tell anyone about it. How I could forget about the paper is beyond me, 'cuz there is paperwork EVERYWHERE and a tad ALL CONSUMING. (insert daunting echoing sound effects here).
I am officially in the Home Study process, which apparently is the worst part. Good to get that over with, I suppose. The list is long, but here is a general overview of what the Home Study involves:
· FBI fingerprinting (Jessie came with me on the 11th & took pictures of that process. I can guarantee you nobody else's kids are going to have THAT photo in their baby book!)
· Extensive questioning about my upbringing & mental state through puberty (THAT was a real treat to complete)
· Peer & pastoral references (thank you to those that were involved with this portion!)
· Work references & salary confirmations
· Ten hours of online training (haven't started that yet...)
· Twenty hours of additional assigned reading...and written book reports
· Financial statements, copies of insurance, birth certificates, legal guardianship paperwork---all notarized, of course
· Discipline plans
· Personal interviews & home inspection (that’s coming any day)
· Physical exams, blood work & xrays
It's A LOT! This all while checking 'the catalog' of waiting children on a regular basis. It's a little overwhelming, I won't lie. There are some days that I can't look at the pile when I get home from work. It's a feeling very similar to that of when I was in grad school--overwhelmed, unprepared, financially upside-down, and certainly not sure what the future was holding...but positive the Lord told me to do it. The Lord was certainly faithful in that arena! Secretly, I was kind of hoping I wouldn't ever have to go back to that 'place' again, but it is now the altar of remembrance that I am holding onto. This time, instead of a fancy framed diploma and patients that are convinced that caught tuberculosis from their pet fish (not making that up!)...a sweet little one who needs a momma is the reward. 
