Now all we have to do is wait...

Brian and I did our last set of finger prints today!  This was a huge thing hanging over our head because it's not cheap.  This is the second time we've done prints.  The last set was for the foster care part and this part was for the adoption part.  So about 30 minutes and $212 later we finally got our LAST set of finger prints done. (for now anyway, i'm sure at some point or another we may have to do them again.. like years from now?)   The forms went straight into the mail along with the last few forms we needed to submit, our tax return and Brians DMV record that for some reason came a good week after mine even though we submitted the request for them the very same day!

So now we just have to wait... wait for Koinonia to get the papers, wait for the finger prints to clear and wait to be assigned a social worker!  It feels so good to get done with this first step and it feels good for the ball to be in the other court for now.  The next step will be to schedule a time the social worker can come out and start our home study.  We were told this may take a few different meetings to complete and we are looking forward to it.

In other news: I (Mary) got to go on a scrapbooking retreat this weekend.  I left Friday afternoon and came back on Sunday evening.   While I was there I got to get two families pics edited and I did 37 pages in Camden's scrap book.  By sat night I realized this was the first time I felt actually relaxed since we've had kids.  It was really weird to have THREE days and two nights to do nothing but be crafty in the company of other ladies.  I didn't even have to cook for myself because all of the meals were provided.  I came back so refreshed and recharged, ready to be a better mommy and wife. Brian had the boys all weekend.  When I came home everyone looked great and my house was immaculate!  I felt very spoiled and totally completely blessed.

The scrap book retreat is definitely something I'll be doing every year and I'll be making sure Brian gets to do something similar.  For him this year it was meeting his college guys up in the Bay area for a live Fantasy football draft.  Sometimes we all just need a break, not because we don't love what we do every single day, because in the end I wouldn't have it any other way, but because we all need a little refresher sometimes.

I also started Bible study last week and we are studying Hosea.  The title of the study is "A call to commitment"  I don't think I've ever read much of Hosea before although one of my favorite books, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is based on the book Hosea.  I'm excited to do this study and think by the title it won't be hard to apply it to this chapter in our lives. 

The first lesson is on Forgiveness.  The verse for the week is 2 Chronicles 7:14 "Then if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, if they will pray and seek Me and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven.  I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land."


In our last adoption training we spent a lot of time talking about how this process has an impact on three different parties.  The foster parents and foster children, but also the birth parents.  I'm sure we will experiences a bunch of different kinds of birth parents and i'm sure it's not always going to be easy to trust that it will be best for the kids to go back to them.  We will have to trust that God is in control and I pray that the families we will eventually come in contact with will come to know God,  pray and seek Him and stop whatever it was they were doing that made them get their children taken from them.  If they do God WILL hear them from heaven, He will forgive their sin and heal their land. (Family perhaps?)

God, you are awesome and mighty.  I pray that we will remember to always trust you and be thankful that we have already turned to you to carry our sins.  Please give us the strength to know you are in control of even these situations and let us remember that you have the power to transform these broken families and make them whole.   Amen.