A prayer by Dawn Davenport from The Complete Book on International Adoption

I pray that all children will be loved for who they are, for no reason other than that they are.
I pray that all children will be loved as first best, not second best; that they will be loved with an intensity that can move mountains, because life will present plenty of mountains that will need to be moved.
I pray that all children will have someone who will...
...seek them, and only them, out of the crowd on the stage;
...push them to reach for their goals and discover their unique gifts;
....hold them accountable for their actions with love and dignity;
...advocate for them through this maze called life;
...explain the unexplainable; and
...smile when they walk into the room, just because they did.
Mostly I pray that all children will have someone who knows them well enough and loves them deeply enough to see the divine spar that is unique in them.
I pray that this be the birthright of all children through out the world. And since this birthright can only be fulfilled by parents, I pray that each child, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, finds their parent and each parent finds their child.
Thanks, God.
Amen.

The Paperwork Pregnancy Begins

Yes, sign me up! Now, what do you need from me?

What our Home Study Agency needs from us...

Background Checks for each state where you have resided since the age of 18 years...Ohio (both of us), Mississippi (Danielle), Alabama (Danielle), Illinois (both of us), Tennessee (both of us), California (both of us), Iowa (George), Minnesota (George), Florida (George), Pennsylvania (George). If only all states would agree about one form and process!

Medical Exams...George--scheduled, Danielle--scheduled, Elliot--had it done in past twelve months, Gavin--had it done in past twelve months.

Birth and marriage proof...Certified birth certificates--Danielle and George, certified marriage certificate, Copies of birth certificates--Elliot and Gavin

Questionnaires...Adoption questionnaires, Marriage questionnaires, Autobiographies for George and Danielle

Finances...Tax returns, Personal Financial Review, W-2 statements, Employment letter/verification/income

Insurance...Life insurance policies for George and Danielle, Medical insurance proof

Passports...Copies of passports for George and Danielle

Driver's Licenses...Copies of driver's licenses for George and Danielle

Family photograph--Easy one!!!

Classes scheduled--May 7, May 14, May 21

Interviews with social worker--George, Danielle, as a couple, as a family in our home, home safety review

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Proverbs 14:23

Tracking the Delivery

We have officially submitted our application and contract to International Family Services. After meeting with notary Diane Reese at Morgan Stanley, we sent our packet by Express Mail to Texas. Our first hurdle in what we have been told could be a long journey was tracking the package until it reached the IFS office. Having been sent on Friday, delivery was expected by Monday. The USPS tried to deliver it on Saturday and discovered only a doctor's office. After George made a few phone calls on Monday when the internet tracking said "undeliverable," Patsy at the small post office said she had tried to deliver it, but it appeared to be a doctor's office. Someone in the post office confirmed that it is a doctor's office with suites for other companies as well, IFS being one of them. She apologized and made sure it was delivered on Monday by 3pm. We were officially the first family enrolled in the Moldova program at IFS!

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"  James 4:14-15

The Gates are Open!

I talked to Carol Mardock today about finishing up the adoption application.  I shared with her that we planned to list Bulgaria as our first choice and Moldova as our second.  If Moldova opens in the near future, we would want to switch programs.  She informed me that if we knew we wanted Moldova, we should list it as first since it had officially OPENED!  I began to cry as I explained that George had told me that God would open Moldova for us.  "You of little faith," he would say as I tried to convince him that Bulgaria was a better choice.  It, in fact, was actually open to adoption.  Now here I was facing the beauty of God's majesty as Moldova doors opened the adoption gates.  The children would be eligible for adoption at 24 months, and no one is in the line up yet.

I also shared with Carol that George and I planned to gain qualification for up to three siblings.  She laughed as she told us there may be twins waiting for us.  After all, George and I had just known that we were supposed to have had twins...maybe it is through adoption not birth that we are supposed to have them!

Have to get to work on the home study!

"For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies."
Psalm 108:4

The $58 Launch

Certified marriage certificate $8
Certified birth certificate for George $24
Certified birth certificate for Danielle $26
Total of items ordered to launch adoption process on Monday $58

Total of unexpected letter from the Treasury of TN for a refund due from Cincinnati Bell from our time as residents there in 2006 (received on Saturday) $58.40

Coincidence? I think not! Praise God for having His hand in all the small details of life!

"My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19

Full Steam Ahead...Slowly

We are moving forward! We set up an appointment with Catholic Charities to discuss the home study process. I ordered a certified marriage certificate from one state, a certified birth certificate for myself from another state, and a certified birth certificate for George from yet another state (very easily I may add...which was kind of disturbing...didn't even have to give a copy of my ID. If I was willing to fill out a form and pay, they were willing to give me the birth certificate for another person!) We are bracing for the longest pregnancy ever. We may have two years (or more) ahead of us before we are squeezing a new little dude. Elliot and Gavin have already agreed to share their toys, but Gavin said he can't share his food. We are working on him...

The Signs

While other friends prayed along with me that our hearts would be open to whatever God's will was for us, God was at work in ways both that were obvious and not so obvious to me. I was in Nashville feeling as though God was shouting about adoption to me. I would take the kids to gymnastics, and I would see a banner for "Show Hope," the foundation started by the Chapman family to help orphans and aid in adoption expenses. I would turn on the radio and hear an advertisement for Compassion International. I would have a conversation, and it would always seem to turn to the topic of adoption. I would walk past the front desk at the YMCA, and an ad for "Both Hands," a group that helps widows and orphans, would pop up.

Meanwhile, George was sitting at a bar in California sharing a beer with our friend Jake. Jake and George had become friends through church, where Jake was a pastor. I had gotten to know his wife Joan through our Moms' group. Jake shared with George that they were waiting on a match for a domestic adoption that would come any day. George was feeling the tug himself.

When he came home to Nashville, we committed to being prayerful and exploring the idea of adoption for our own family. Every night after putting Elliot and Gavin to bed, we found ourselves reading everything we could on the internet, requesting information from various agencies, looking at pictures and video of orphanages, and envisioning aloud how a new little person would become part of our fun, crazy family.

We began to ask others to pray for us, no longer feeling as though we needed to be completely quiet about the heavy burden on our hearts.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, submit to Him, and He will make your path straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6