Foster Home License

Today we received our Foster Home License from DCFS. We weren’t aware that any of our papers had even been sent to them yet.  This was a nice surprise in the mail today, and it means that we are one step further along in the process. As I’ve said before, we had to become a licensed foster home in order to adopt. We’ve been told that this is required for all Illinois residents wishing to adopt, even if they never plan on having foster children.

By the way, the last obstacle with our home study was resolved yesterday!! We are now anxiously waiting for our social worker to finalize her reports and mail them to DCFS for our home study approval.

                                       

 Lori                            

Are You Interested in Adopting a Boy from China?

China has been known in the past to have many girl orphans due to the one child law and gender preference for boys, but surprisingly there are many boys in the orphanages there now. Below is a video posted by our adoption agency, Children's Hope International. You may want to grab a Kleenex first.

Call Childrens Hope if you are interested in adopting a boy. They'd love to speak with you! 314-890-0086 or follow their link on our page.

                                                     

                                                               Lori

Things Aren't Going As Planned

We thought that all was well with our home study, and that our paperwork and the social worker’s reports would be in the mail by Wednesday, May 18, going to the state’s DCFS office. Well, as we all know, things don’t always go as planned. There were three items that had to be addressed last minute. One was a quick and easy fix. We had to drain the water out of the fountain in front of our house.  The other two items are being taken care of, but they are out of our hands, so we must wait patiently.  We remain somewhat calm and believe that this is all part of God’s perfect timing.

Thanks so much to all of the people that have helped us thus far in some way! There have been people that have helped move the progress along, there have been those that have given words of encouragement, and there have been those who have prayed. We are so grateful for all. 

                                                     

                                                                         Lori

Impossible Without Faith

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)  Walking in faith causes one to take risks; it doesn't allow for safety and security, but as stated in Hebrews, it's impossible to please God without it. Our faith is in God and what He can do. This adoption is in His hands, and there's no better place for anything to be.

                                                                Lori

Multi-Agency List

Yesterday I mentioned the CCCWA multi-agency list. I did a little research today and found out that the list also has children on it with minor medical needs. It's my understanding, however, that these children don’t tend to stay on the list for very long. Something else that I learned that may be of interest is that healthy children 6 years old and up are considered special needs children, because children are generally harder to place as they get older. I won’t fully understand how the list works until I get to view it, but if you have questions about adopting a special needs child you may contact our adoption agency, Children’s Hope International www.childrenshopeint.org.                                                        

                                                              Lori

Home Inspection

Today was the second home visit for our home study. Our social worker from BCHFS performed a home inspection. She did a walkthrough of the whole house, inspected smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, made sure all medicines and cleaners are out of a child’s reach, made sure that the adopted child will have adequate living and closet space, and tested the hot water temp to see if it is 115 degrees or less. Everything is as it should be.

Also today, we received an email from our adoption agency, Children’s Hope International, saying that once we have our home study approval and our I-800a filed with USCIS, we will be allowed to review all the children on the CCCWA's (China’s Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption) website. This is a multiple agency listing that has over 1500 Special Focus Children available for adoption.  These are children with moderate to severe special needs. 

We are still hoping for a child with a minor medical need, but we are becoming more open to moderate special needs. We have also expanded the age range for the child that we will accept from the original 18-24 months to 12 months - 6 years.

If you’re wondering why we have become more open all of the sudden, it’s because we’ve been viewing a website of an orphanage in China called Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village (www.chinaorphans.org). Our hearts for orphans are expanding as we look at the pictures and videos from this one orphanage.

                                                       

                                                              Lori

This is the Day...

As soon as I woke up this morning a bible verse popped into my head. "This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." (Psalms 118:24) Well, today was our first home study visit. I think God was telling me to have a good attitude and not to worry about today. 

Our social worker interviewed Brent and I together and then the whole family individually. Everything we discussed was already addressed in writing as part of the paperwork we had to do previously, so there weren't any surprises. All went well and she will return tomorrow for the home inspection, which has to be done in a second visit. We will definitely be rejoicing when our home study is approved; it is a major step in the adoption process. The average time for approval in Illinois is four weeks. Please be praying that all goes smoothly.

                                                            Lori