And we're in!

It seems the first leg of our wait is now over! Derrick received an email last night (at 11 p.m.) from our temporary adoption worker that we were accepted by the committee last Thursday and have been put into circulation for our adoption! This means that our profile and DVD are available to be matched to any birth mother in central Illinois!

We are really excited about finally being here and now look forward to the next goal, being chosen and meeting the newest addition to our family! When we began the process, we were told that from this point we have a wait of on average two months to three years. This means that things could change dramatically for us very soon, or we could have a couple of years before that happens. I continue to be encouraged by those friends and family members who often remind us that they are praying for us and the birth family because they know that God has His hand in the outcome!

We meet up with our temporary adoption worker sometime next week to sign final paperwork. We are grateful that we have been assigned to the worker in Bloomington, as she was at all of our Home Study meetings. Although we haven't met one on one with her, she and Derrick do have a connection to PA. that they discussed back in the Spring. This is great, because she will hopefully remember who we are and be able to quickly learn more about our case. See...God is even in the small things...like meeting someone with connections to Pine Grove, PA!

Next step...our good friend from college is planning on coming to visit in a couple of weeks. His main goal will be to help Derrick finish mudding and taping the drywall and paint the nursery...now I just have to settle on a paint color!

Thank you again for your prayers! You all are a blessing to us! Corey and Derrick

The presentation...

Derrick spoke to the woman who is now in charge of our case at the agency today. She seems great on the phone-really willing to work with us considering the situation! We will be presented to the committee at the agency on this Thursday. If the committee "approves" of us, then we will be considered in circulation as of Friday! We are both excited and anxious at the same time!

When we began this process, we were told that from this point, the average wait time is between two months and three years. We will now begin attending monthly support groups as we wait for a birth mother to choose us. :)

A bump in the road....

Yesterday we received a letter in the mail from our adoption worker, saying that she is leaving Catholic Charities, and that today will be her last day. This is definately a bump in the road, as it will probably slow some of our paperwork, sitting in the Champaign office, down while they look into hiring someone new. The supervisor will be taking over while they look for someone new, however, she lives in Peoria (1 1/2 hours away from Champaign).

Please pray that our new worker is someone that we connect to quickly, as we really liked our current worker. Please also pray that this person is very organized and is able to quickly get working on current open cases.

Thanks!

Lamentations 3:25-26

"The Lord is good to those who hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

As I type, Derrick is finished printing a label on our last dvd to turn in. We plan to go to Catholic Charities tomorrow in order to turn in our last required items: 4 dvd's, 4 profiles, and paperwork. Our profile is a scrapbook, which shows in 20 pages, who we are. Of course I loved working on this, as scrap booking is a great passion of mine! The 4 dvd's are a labor of love...both Derrick and I really didn't look forward to making a 10 minutes video talking about ourselves and why we should be "picked" as parents! In fact, we put off making our dvd until the last possible moment...and then begrudgingly worked on it one Sunday afternoon. Our final paperwork will be used to match us with possible birthmoms.

What I have learned in these past couple of weeks is that God is great! He has provided for Derrick and I in such amazing ways! I quit my teaching job last Spring, something that I was very nervous about doing. I didn't understand why God would ask me to leave a paying job when He also wanted us to consider adoption. I didn't understand how things would come together...which is fine, because God is in control and He knows exactly how it will come together! The above verse in Lamentations is one that I found for a Bible study several weeks ago. This idea of waiting "quietly" on God, was one that baffled me. When you are waiting on God to do something for you, it is REALLY hard to wait quietly! Of course, to everyone else, it may seem that I was waiting patiently, but God (and Derrick) know the truth...I am really good at whining! :)

So now that we are about ready to go into the "pool" of potential adoptive parents, a new wait begins. I hope that I can wait quietly, as I know that God has His hand in this entire adventure!

The following are some of the lyrics from a song by Addison Road. The song is titled, "What do I Know of Holy?"

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees