If you ask me if I mind though, the answer is a definite NO! Because I know on the other side of this mountain of paper work, and the small headache of dealing with government agencies, will be our sweet little angel waiting for us! :) And we can't wait!! (If you can't tell!)
Things are moving right along-- We applied for passports today! So, in about 4-6 weeks we should have them back and be ready to travel, after we finally get matched with a child. (Which is still a LONG ways down the road!) But, we're one tiny step closer (& $300 down)!
I know a lot of you are curious about this whole process, and so are we! haha We don't know a whole lot about this, and we're just taking one day at the time! Learning as we go. But, I want to keep everyone in the loop and caught up on where we are!
The next step, for those who are wondering, is mailing in our commitment packet and a check of $2,500! Before we can do that, we have to complete our 10 hours of on-line training and finish that pile of paperwork in the picture you see above! :) Once our agency receives our packet, we will begin working on our home-study and dossier! Once we complete those (it will probably take a good little while) they will send our "dossier" over to Bulgaria to be translated and wait for our REFERRAL!! :) That will be the LONG wait! They told us it could be any where up to 36 months, for a healthy child under age 3- but we are praying it won't be that long!) We put on our application that we would accept a child up to age 4 with minor/correctable medical needs. We expect that to cut the wait time in at least half! *fingers crossed* We know that the Lord has the perfect child for us, that will complete our family and we know that He will put us all together at just the right time! Words just can't describe how excited we are to watch it all come together! We appreciate all of your prayers, for us and for our sweet pea (who may or may not even be born yet!) We can't wait to witness this miracle that is going to take place in our lives, and we're glad you've chosen to follow along with our story! We have a little faith, and we're expecting big things! We know that "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27 :)
xoxo,
Steffani
I remember starting the same process (maybe a little less paperwork because we did domestic adoption) about 15 years ago! We planned so much for our little bundle...and were blessed with a newborn 22 months after we started. We also agreed to accept correctible medical needs, but were so thankful she had none. And God blessed us doubly, the day she was born we saw the heartbeat of our firstborn biological child...after four miscarriages. I love reading your blog already....bringing back so many good memories. Kim Culpepper
ReplyDeleteKim, thanks so much for the encouraging words, and for following along with our story! :) How amazing is it the Lord gave you so many miracles in a day!? He's so good! :)
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