Five years later...

I was just going to do my weekly update on our gofundme account but decided to write a blog instead.

Five years ago



Five years later...

 

 

Daniel and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this past weekend. I really cannot believe it has been 5 years since we walked down the aisle. We have changed so much over the past five years, for the better. Yes, there have been some hard moments but we have learned to put our faith in God and he has walked us through them.  As most of you know we found out a few months after we got married that we would not be able to conceive a child. This was the big moment that really changed us, especially me. This is when I became angry about our situation, emotional, resentful and many more emotions that were not healthy. I hated the situation. During this time I had a pulling at my heart to seek God so that I could understand why this was happening. Daniel and I had occasionally attended church with his mom but did not have a church home of our own where we felt comfortable. Daniel agreed to start looking for one when I asked. The first time we walked into Agape I knew in my heart that is where we needed to be. Since we first attended we have felt the love of Christ through so many people, we've met some amazing people that I'm glad to call my friends and family that pray for us daily, I was baptized,  I have learned to lean on him and put my faith in him. He has placed certain lady in my life from church that I love dearly, she understands the pain and hurt I've gone through and has cried and prayed with me. I do believe that if we had gotten pregnant right after we were married that I would not be where I am in my faith with the lord today. Is it still hard not being able to have kids and understanding why others can and we can't? ABSOLUTELY, but it is easier to let go of the bad feelings and look forward to the greater plan he has for us.

Thank you Dana for being my friend and always being there for me during this process!

 

The day we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary we received the draft to our home study. This puts us one step closer to our dream of becoming parents, a family. We made the corrections to the draft and sent it back to the agency. We are still waiting for our background checks to come in. Normally I would be stressing about it and worrying but I feel relaxed. I know that when God's time is right they will come in. Then we will just be waiting for the agency to show our adoption profile to birth parents.

Puzzle Fundraiser:

My mom is totally amazing. She continues to support us each week by buying two puzzle pieces. With her donation of $500 this week, we reached our goal of $7,000 for phase three of the adoption process with the agency. Phase three is due when a birth mother has chosen us. It has only been seven months since we officially started the adoption journey and have raised enough money for the first three phases. I never imagined we'd be this far in the process so quickly. God is so good in all he does. Now we are ready to start saving for the final phase which is $10,275 due at the time of birth.

My mom and I

 

Week 26- 4 pieces!

Week 27-2 pieces!

Week 28- Still in progress but have already sold 50 pieces!!  :-)

 

So far we have sold 559 pieces! Only 441 pieces left until we will get to complete the puzzle and hang in the nursery! My uncle Jamiel is still doing his challenge. Every payday he and his wife are going to buy two puzzle pieces. He challenged his family and anyone else who wants to participate to do the same. Puzzle pieces are $10 each. You can pay by cash, check, paypal or our gofundme account. Please spread the word so we can sell these puzzle pieces!! :-)

A "perfect" new addition to the nursery

 "With Faith Comes Hope"

Separate Interviews....Done!

So today was another big day for us. We had our separate interviews with the adoption agency. Thank you so much for your prayers today!! We really do appreciate each one of you!!  The interviews were really fast, about 30 minutes each!  

Daniel went first. While I waited I read some books they had in the waiting room. Here are two of my favorites. I plan to eventually order them and research some more books.

She asked about our childhood, families, each other, how we plan to discipline, and again the openness to the birth mother. Overall the questions and interview were very easy. The hardest part for me was answering questions and talking about my parents' divorce and my non existent relationship with my father. I tried to prepare myself ahead of time for the situation because I knew I'd have to talk about it. Luckily she didn't linger too long on the subject .

After the interviews she told us what would take place next. She said that she is still waiting for our background checks to come in. She mentioned that she has called them and they said they are backed up and could be sometime in August before she has them. Once she has them she will write up her approval for the adoption and send us a letter in the mail letting us know we are good to go forward. From that point on we will just be waiting for a birth mother to pick us for her child! When she sends the letter the home study from that point will last a year before we have to renew it if for some reason we have not been picked by a birth mother.

After the meeting we went to Hideaway Pizza like we did the first time we met with her...I think it will probably become a tradition every time we have to meet with her!

Then Daniel took me to Mardel and let me do a little shopping for my classroom! I only think it's appropriate to go along with our nursery theme!

Please be praying for our background checks to arrive quickly. :-)