Wow! What a week it’s been! If there’s one thing this adoption journey has taught us, it’s to expect the unexpected.

Our social worker came Wednesday for our house visit. This was a HUGE step- the last thing on the list before we get our approved home study. Her visit was quick- thanks to Covid- and was not nearly as intimidating as we expected. She basically walked in each room, looked for smoke detectors, asked us about guns and then said, “Well, it looks like a safe and warm environment to raise a child!” Relief!

She also presented us with a unique situation- a baby in Detroit, due June 1, desperate for adoptive parents. This was shocking to say the least. Our social worker is not connected to Faithful Adoption Consultants, so we definitely did not expect this. Greg and I talked about it, talked with our consultant from FAC, and decided it just wasn’t the right case for us. We are still waiting on our profile book, a few pieces of legal paperwork, and pursuing this case would mean breaking our contract with FAC. We LOVE FAC and truly want to experience walking this journey with them. We felt very at peace with this decision and know our baby is waiting for us!

We are now waiting for our social worker to finish writing our home study report. We’re hoping to have it in hand this week. Once we have that, we are ready to send ALL our paperwork to FAC and go ‘active’!

Between the Detroit baby situation and getting ready to go active, things are feeling VERY real. Anxiety and nerves have kicked in a bit- will we have our funds in time? Do we have all the things we need to travel? Will it take months or will we match quickly? Unlike pregnancy, our due date is unknown, and that makes planning difficult!

We also kicked off our major fundraiser this week and we’ve been BLOWN away. We did NOT expect such an outpouring of love and generosity! FAC gave us the ‘idea’ of a sticky note fundraiser (if you’re clueless about what this is, like we were, research it!) and we put our own spin on it. I’d highly recommend it! It’s been so much fun and fairly ‘easy’.

We keep saying ‘Thank You’ and it seems so inadequate- how do we thank someone for investing in our family, for helping us become parents, and for making our dreams come true? Words don’t seem to do justice. In just FIVE days we’ve raised $15,000. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in. Our goal for this fundraiser is $20,000 and we’re seriously so close. GOD IS GOOD. He has provided beyond our expectations already and we know He will continue to do so.

The total amount we need for this adoption is $50,000. We have been approved for a $20,000 adoption loan and our current fundraiser will hopefully raise us $20,000. That leaves us with about $10,000 more before we can ‘match’. As soon as we have our home study report we will be applying for adoption grants. We’re hoping for one or two grants in the $500-$1000 range. We also have bags and bags of pop cans to return which we hope will raise us another $1000. Add in our personal savings and we should be around $48,000. Our ‘jar of oil’ looks like it will fall short, but we are trusting God to fill it up beyond what we think possible. We need gaps and situations that fall short to remind us this is not our doing, but His.

Our ultimate/crazy goal is to do this adoption debt free and raise the entire $50,000. We don’t want to doubt, but we know this may not be attainable. Our goal and focus right now is to have the funds ready (with loans) so we can proceed. And who knows, a few months from now we may look back and wonder why we doubted this crazy debt free goal.

We do have one more final fundraiser we are PRAYING we can do as it’s one of our favorite things ever- Trivia! But we are waiting to see what social gathering guidelines are in place for later this summer. So, stay tuned!

As we wrap up week 7, it’s hard to imagine what week 8 will hold. It looks like a normal and calm week ahead, but we are anticipating the unexpected, just in case. 🙂 And as always, we’re trusting that where God guides, He provides.

Thank you for joining us on this journey!