I have to be the absolute best blogger on the planet. I mean 2 years between posts… pretty on point.
So I just remembered I had a blog about 20 minutes ago so I did what any familiar blogger would do and wracked my brain about what the utterly most secure password could possibly be. Speaking of passwords, I HATE them. yes hate. I can never remember which combo I used at that given time, did I capitalize, was this before 2014 when the internet world came up with the bright idea to encourage numbers and special characters??? AUGHHHHH I CANT EVER REMEMBER what I thought was so "easy to remember" at that time!!! and if my computer doesn't remember it, forget it, I certainly won't remember it. God forbid I have to get on hulu or netflix on a different tv or computer then my usual tv or computer, and 20 minutes in, I might be getting somewhere. maybe. rant over.
Anywho, blogging. Its been almost 2 years since I started this journey of "writing down my feelings" and after I finally got in past the gates of blogging land (aka my password protection), I read all of the whopping 4 posts that I managed to muster up as we started this journey and boy did that bring me back. My first thought was wow, I can't believe we started the adoption journey 2 years ago and we are still a family of 4; husband, wife, and 2 precious furry princesses I lovingly call Tallulah and Matilda (which today, Matilda chased down a man about 3 blocks away at full speed and the man practically fell on his face/twisted an ankle, saw his life flash before his eyes, etc. etc. It was awesome let me tell you, sigh*). My second thought was wow, I'm kinda funny. And third, can you really think of yourself as funny? thats weird right.
So where to even start. Almost 2 years ago we pursued DHS to grow our family. We didn't have a clue what adoption in the state of Oklahoma even consisted of, all we knew was God put it on our hearts to "adopt some kids", so that's the road we jumped on. P.S. "adopt some kids" is one of those phrases that I think is the most tacky way of describing adoption. However, my husband says it at least every 3rd day. Its amazing. ugh….
So my last post talked about my paperwork almost being done through DHS (I missed the lengthy 20 day deadline btw, not sure how I did that, but I did). So as I emailed the man that we initially met at DHS with regards to my delay, and how I would need to get "back in the system" it took him about 3 weeks to respond (hence my first hesitancy with going straight to DHS). I needed more from DHS, possibly a little coddling, someone to hold my hand and lead us through the unknown world of adoption. You know, not asking for much :) I didn't sense that that was going to be the case through DHS but we didn't know of any other options so we just waited. A couple months (maybe weeks) went by (I really don't know since it was almost 16 months ago, yikes), a gentlemen from a Private Foster Care Agency came in to five80, our coffeehouse, and heard we were wanting to adopt through the state. He seemed wonderful, available, compassionate, and truly passionate about meeting the needs of these waiting children. We thought this was the way we were going to meet our children. Without going through too much detail, we were assigned a case worker that was just not the right fit for us… Without divulging too much, we knew this wasn't the path that would be for us, so we just stalled the process for a few months… not knowing what to do exactly we just became a bit stagnant and continued working on the bajillion projects we had presently taken on during this time. We were renovating the loft above our coffeehouse and things were at their craziest. If we didn't have SO many moving parts to our daily lives, the waiting for direction would have been a bit more concerning, but to be honest, I didn't even really notice how much time was passing as we were up against some major deadlines in our ministry.
Some friends of ours were working with an organization called Deaconess Pregnancy and Adoption Center and they absolutely raved about the experience that they were having with them. Although our friends were wanting to adopt an infant through Deaconess, we later learned that Deaconess was just starting their "Older Child Adoption Program" which was the path we were wanting to pursue through DHS (initially). We were told that in October (of 2014) that they were having an Older Child Orientation, so we decided to check it out and put it on the calendar. During the few weeks of waiting for the orientation, I did TONS of research on Deaconess. I wanted so badly for this to be the place we would actively pursue. I LOVED what they stood for and at this point heard absolutely NOTHING but positive things (and continually do) about their pursuit to come along side these families and walk with them hand in hand.
October 23rd came and we attended the orientation and pretty much knew. This was the place. Let the angels rejoice!!!
The next step was the Application which was quite thick, background checks, yada yada, all the same stuff we already did with the other agency… but now with a BIG smile. I was doing it all again, but I didn't care. A couple weeks later we got a letter saying that they ACCEPTED OUR APPLICATION and now we needed to attend a 2 day training session back at Deaconess. Let. me. tell. you. These two days in February (of this year) was awesome. I learned SOOOOO much. I also learned how much I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!
Jeremiah's response was slightly different. Although HE LOVED the info, sitting for TWO WHOLE DAYS in a classroom environment was absolutely true torture. I think being waterboarded would have sounded more appealing. Dramatic? yes. but that's Jeremiah. You would have thought he was being handcuffed to satan on rollerblades and then being asked to sit still. Really. My overly active partner in crime never ceases to amaze me. At one point I had to stare at him SO intensely to STOP MOVING that I surely thought we by far looked like the most unhealthy "pre-parents" they have ever seen. I almost died a little inside a few times when he kept tapping anything that would make noise, and blurt out questions that only attempted to "rush things along"… (sigh**) got to love how God made us SOOOO different, right? :D
The next steps were our personal independent interviews at Deaconess where they met with us for what they said would be an hour (or longer). Jeremiah's was like 45 minutes, not sure how he pulled that one off, but he did. They asked us questions about our families, marriage, expectations, etc. I assume they want the couples separated so wives can't kick their husbands under the table when they tell "jokes" (thats what he calls them anyway….)
Fast forward to yesterday, the official HOME STUDY where they look around the house, figure out how many bedrooms we have, how safe our home is, or isn't, interview us some more (together this time) and overall gauge what our life looks like on a more intimate level. The girl that has been assigned to our journey is an adorable 20 something that could not be more mature and more suited for this job. She is extremely smart, knowledgeable, skilled, and PASSIONATE about adoption. We love her. She has been a true gift to this process. Again, another reason why we LOVE deaconess, their hiring choices are ON POINT!
So today, I am blogging because I really love the idea of being able to one day look back and truly remember this process in all its confusion, glory, frustration, and joy. If I didn't have my decisive, bold, eager, passionate husband by my side I would crumble, no doubt about it. Last night we were on www.adoptuskids.org and oh man……. tears, tears, and more tears. This website shows all the available children across the United States that are without a mother and father. They have now added videos to a few kids' profiles and oh the pain that rushes over me when I see these amazing, beautiful and pained children desperately desiring a forever family. My desperate question to God is this… Moving forward, how in the world will we choose?
Your prayers are everything to us. Thanks for reading :)
Sarah
