I began sensing God speaking to me about three years ago. I heard His voice everywhere I went and everywhere I turned, so I stopped and asked, "God, are you talking to me?" Surely not. There is no way I am capable of adopting. We have two beautiful and healthy boys. Our lives are busy and our home feels full and complete. So, I waited. When I could not ignore His voice and the desire He was growing in my heart anymore, I talked with Greg about adoption. Greg was very happy with our family just the way we were and had not sensed God leading us to adopt, so we waited. This fall, the longing and desire to bring another child into our home through adoption had grown so strong in my heart, so Greg and I discussed adoption again. We decided to pray together daily for God's leading in this area of our lives. We prayed that God would unite our vision with His own for our family and that He would show us clearly what His will is for us. I cried and cried, knowing that we have a child that we haven't met yet and wondering if we would ever bring him/her home. Not long after we began praying together, God made His will known to both of us. His confirmation was before our eyes and ears over and over again. Constantly, we saw tv shows, movies, heard songs and others talking about adoption. He also confirmed that our adoption would be from China or another country in Asia. I love the way He makes His will known to us when we seek Him with all our heart!! Neither Greg nor I could deny the will of God for our family and in November we requested information from three adoption agencies. We began our adoption process on December 7, 2010.
For the adoption agency, with our application, we had to send in a financial worksheet, letters from our doctors, and personal statements. We had everything ready to go to All God's Children International (AGCI), our adoption agency, that first week of December, except a letter from Greg's doctor. His doctor sent three letters and none contained enough information to be acceptable. After much grief, we finally received the Dr. letter containing all the needed information on January 14, 2011 and we put it along with the application and other supplemental documents in the mail that day (as we did the happy dance). While we were waiting to send in the application to AGCI, we contacted some home study agencies and decided to do our home study with Alabama Family Adoption Services (FAS). They sent us a packet of information and we decided to start our fingerprints and background check clearances, even before sending in our application, since it usually takes about three months to get the results back on the fingerprints. We did our fingerprints at the Millbrook Police Dept on 12/21/10. We found out mid-January that usually the FBI requires ink fingerprints, not electronic, like we had done. So, we figured ours would be rejected and we would have to start that whole process over again. Instead, we received a letter from the Department of Human Resources that our fingerprints had met the suitability criteria!! We have been told that this is VERY unusual to get the fingerprint results back this quick!! Thank you, God!!!
We have now sent in our application and most of the other paperwork they needed to FAS and we have our first home study visit scheduled on February 3, 2011!! We should receive our adoption planner from AGCI in the next couple of days with detailed instructions on what to do next and how. It is amazing how slow things can be going and then all of a sudden we are propelled forward and things seem to be going really fast!! After we complete our dossier, we will be able to receive new referrals. We will let you know as soon as we have any information on our child. We can't wait to meet the child God has chosen for our family!!! Please keep us in your prayers.
