We have finished answering all the family profile questions for Christian Adoption Consultants and emailed them. These 30 questions, over 12 pages of size 11 font typed, will be included in our family profile that birth mother's will see. It is personal information about who we are, how we were raised, what we enjoy doing, our plans for the future, etc. In essence a way for the birth mother to "get-to-know us". We are working on finishing compiling and labeling over 120 pictures for our family profile as well.
Also, we have already heard back from Lifeline! They called to let us know that they received our application fee ($250), that all the initial paperwork looks great and we should be hearing from the local social worker in our area this upcoming week! So exciting! They also emailed us an extensive packet of information, questions and forms to be filled out.
We knew this would be coming, but seeing it all in a 50 page packet to be printed out was still a little overwhelming. To give you a better idea, on the agenda for this week is the following:
1. go online to fill out paperwork to begin a background check on David and I (this can take up to 3 months to finish processing)
2. contact the police department about getting our fingerprints taken
3. going by the vet to obtain vaccination histories on all of our pets
4. schedule appointments with our doctor's for physical exams
5. signing a couple of forms
6. working on some autobiographical information for the social worker
7. having copies compiled of
a. most recent tax return information (federal and state)
b. most recent pay stubs
c. medical/dental insurance cards
d. driver's licenses
e. each of our birth certificates
f. current marriage license
Whew. One thing at a time.
That is the paperwork side. The other side of the process is the actual in-home visits by the social worker. I've learned that different agencies may have slightly different processes, ours will proceed as follows:
1. The first interview is a home visit in which the social worker will address each of the qualifications for adoption.
2. The second and third interviews are individual interviews and are based on our autobiographies we provide.
3. The third interview will focus on parenting philosophies and plans. Issues such as experience and exposure to children, the applicants' parenting received when they were children, values and discipline will be explored.
4. The fourth interview will focus on adoption education. We will discuss how to educate a child on his or her adoptive status, how to educate others, proper words and timing, books on adoption, inter-racial adoptions, contact with birth parents, background information on any prospective adopted child, and many other issues common to adoption.
The overview is that we will have 4 separate in-home visits. We will not have the exact dates for these until we have spoken with the social worker.
That is all the information we have for now! We are excited and I would be lying if I I didn't also add nervous!
I thought I might share a little "perspective" from a wonderful book I'm reading (The Noticer by Andy Andrews).
- Direct Excerpt from Chapter 1-
Why does everyone think that when people say that 'God will put a person after His own heart where He wants him to be' . . . that it means God will put them on a mountaintop or in a big house or at the front of the line?
"Think with me here . . . everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you'll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what's a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination-our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life's next peak.
So here is to slogging through this week . . . looking forward to what good stuff I might be able to soak up! What about you?
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