The Home Study is complete. We met with our case worker yesterday afternoon. She talked with us as a family, then met with us individually for an hour each. Her questions were direct and we answered honestly. "How long have you known your spouse? What are you strengths and weaknesses? What is your motivation for adopting? What is your relationship like with your daughter? How do you think she will respond to new siblings? What kind of support system does your family have? Community? Church? Friends? Family? What was your childhood like? How do you get along with your parents?......" She took 10 pages of notes and walked away smiling. We had fretted for months about this visit, wondering what she would ask, how we would answer, and what her reactions would be. We wondered if we would be expected to be neutral on subjects where our faith does not allow nuetrality. Knowing we would be interviewed separately, we had imagined us each giving our answers cautiously and then as soon as she left, comparing notes frantically, hoping they matched up...or looking back and agonizing over each answer we gave, wondering if we said the right thing. We thought that after we completed the home study we would be intimidated by being so far in to the process, or daunted by what still lay ahead. But, instead, as our caseworker walked out to her car, we closed the door, looked at eachother and said casually, "Let's go eat dinner." We had peace about it all: the answers we gave, the truths we shared, the ambiguous future we face, and the unavoidable change to come. Thank you for all your prayers. We know the Lord has answered them through this gift of peace.
So, the next step in the process is recieving the official liscence (our case file has to go through her supervisor for approval). She said if we are approved, we will can expect to meet our assigned caseworker and start reviewing casefiles in the first part of August. And the journey continues....
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:7
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