Approved!

A small but exciting update! Today we received our official letter of approval from the Cherokee nation, so we are now open for a placement at any time. It's such a strange feeling having no time frame whatsoever. We could have a child in our home next week...or it may be a year or more. I'm a big planner so it's hard for me not to have everything ready & waiting but since we don't know exactly how old the child will be or when they'll be here there's not a lot of point to planning. It's also a really exciting place to be, completely trusting God without a lot of direction. I probably won't have much to update until we have a possible placement but lots of prayers are so greatly appreciated- for our sweet baby & whatever situation they may be in before they come home to us, for Gentry since her world is about to be rocked, and for the birth mom & all of the things she'll be going through. Thanks :)

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior.
I will call upon Your name, keep my eyes above the waves. My soul will rest in Your embrace. I am Yours and You are mine."
Oceans by Hillsong United (Such a good song if you haven't heard it!!)


***clarification: we are not naming the baby Usdi, it just means "baby" in Cherokee :)***

Baby Steps

Welcome to our blog! And let me start by saying that I am terrible at things like this! :) The goal is just to keep everyone up to date with our adoption process. Jason and I have talked about adopting someday even before we were married. I definitely feel like God has been directing us on this path for many years. We have had the opportunity to watch several friends and family members go through the challenges and blessings of adoption and have learned a lot from them. God has blessed us so immensely with loving family and friends, a stable marriage, jobs that support our family's needs, and an incredible almost 2 year old daughter and we want to share it with a child in need. Last fall we spent a lot of time praying about where to even begin (international, domestic, foster/adopt) and after doing some research we really felt like God was pointing us toward domestic adoption but that was as far as we got. A few weeks later I was filling out some paperwork to get Gentry her Cherokee card (I'm Cherokee from my dad's side of the family) and had a moment of realizing how awesome it would be if our second child was also Cherokee because that's a connection that Gentry and her sibling would always have. So we jumped in with both feet and trusted in the Lord. We have since then turned in our application, filled out a huge stack of papers, had numerous background checks and fingerprinting done, attended training classes, had two home visits and turned in our profile book. At this point we are waiting for our home study to be reviewed and waiting on one last background check to be returned from the state. When that is complete we will officially be "open" and the real waiting game begins. One of the main things I have learned from others who have gone through this process is that you never know where you're going to end up and it's usually not where you thought you would be when you started. So we are trying to remain as open minded as we can and not have too many expectations. That being said...we have requested a newborn up to 6 months and are praying for a boy! We are open to a birthmother situation or a 'custody' baby who has been taken from their mother for various reasons. We are so excited to see where this journey takes us and to meet baby number two whoever he/she is! I definitely have my days of doubt and anxiety because there are a lot of risks. If we go with a birthmother there is a lot more financial risk and of course she could always change her mind. If we are given a custody child I feel like there is more 'emotional' risk- their policy is that the baby is in your home a minimum of 6 months before the adoption process even begins because reunification with family is always their first goal. It is so easy to get overwhelmed when I start thinking about all the what-if's but I always remind myself that God has led us here and He already knows exactly which baby will be joining our family and how it's all going to work out, so what should I be worrying about? I'll do my best to update you all often. Thanks so much for visiting and please keep our future baby and their birthmother in your prayers!