Adoption Lately.

I’m usually not an impulse purchase kind of girl. Not to brag, I can go into Target, Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx and stay on task. IN FACT, I can actually go in, find what I came in for, push it around in my cart for 20 minutes because I decided I did not want to spend the money. I have been driving my friends and sisters crazy in such a way since I was a teen. HOWEVER, I made an exception when I saw this cute little sign at Hobby Lobby. It perfectly captures the heart I have for our home: This is where we belong.

I have had several mentors in my life, but two of them stand out to me in that they use this phrase and mean it. “I am so glad you’re here.” What a powerful phrase.

I am so glad you are here. I can remember two distinct times that was said to me, by women who I love dearly. Both times we were stepping into new things that were new and I was scared as could be. But that phrase really started to shape how I wanted our home to feel.

And so, as we are beginning to embark on something new, what a great reminder for our home.

And it was 50% off, so double win, ya know?

Adoption Update

If you’re new here, we are on an adoption journey and I thought it was time for a little update. We adopted our son 12 years ago, but that was less like a journey and much more like a surprise arrival. From the starting point of receiving a phone call until the day he was born was 9 weeks. Those 9 weeks included meeting his birth momma, finding a homestudy agency, completing said homestudy, finding attorneys, finding a new apartment and full time jobs (we had just moved back to Ohio from college).

In 9 weeks’ time we had a whole new life. It was the BEST. Still is. I love our life.

We have been at this current journey for 21 months.
Talk about a change of pace.

The first time around was vastly different, mainly because it was a surprise and also because we were becoming first-time parents. Time speeds up once you become a parent. Like, hyper speed. Cue the *slipping through my fingers all the time*. But for real. You spend your days being like, “Are we doing enough??” and then lie in bed at night begging God to slow time down just for a few more minutes.

All this to say, I am hyper-aware of how much time has passed. Thankfully, we have a wonderful support system of friends and family. Many people have been asking for updates and I thought this would be the best way to do it.

“God wastes nothing in the waiting” has been our motto this journey.

Below you’ll find some of the most common questions we have gotten lately.

How is the adoption process going?

“God wastes nothing in the waiting” has been our motto this journey.

We have been homestudy approved for just over a year and have been actively presenting to birth families via our adoption consultant for about 8 months. It’s been going well.

What are we doing in the waiting?

House projects.

This is going slower than I would like but alas, progress is progress. Not to brag, but I finally finished up the stairwell that I started 2 years ago. Well. Its almost finished. Mostly finished. WAY MORE FINISHED THAN IT WAS A FEW MONTHS AGO!

Farm Animals and Pumpkins

We have a steer and meat chickens now. We keep the chickens at my parents’ house and the steer at my husband’s office. I realize that is an odd thing to say, but his office is in the country and there is a barn and pasture there. So there’s a tiny little herd of 3 at the office. I also planted a bunch of pumpkins. Last year’s pumpkin attempts resulted in roughly 10 carving pumpkins. I am hoping for more success this year but I fear I may have started too late. My dad read that pumpkins are one of the most difficult things to grow and it would be like me to decide to start with that market crop.

We would LOVE to move to the country at some point but right now we are focused on adoption. Jessica Sowards talks frequently about turning your waiting room into a classroom, and I am trying to do just that! As you may remember we had planned to go live at a sustainable farm and camp for the ministry we were partnering with when covid hit and we’ve been sitting in this waiting room a lot longer than we intended. But alas, God is good and life is good.

Working Out

We love our gym. My sister and I just entered a crossfit competition last weekend and got third place in our division. We are so pumped. I love fitness and working out does help re-channel my impatient energy.

Is our son excited?

Yes, very.

What is the timeline?

That’s hard to know. There is really no definitive timeline.

How can we help?

You can pray for us. You can check in on us and send me fun baby ideas on Pinterest. You can follow me on Pinterest, Instagram ,sign up to receive updates from the blog and share my content. You could order a beeswax candle! Those are all very helpful to growing my wee little business, which in turn, helps us fund our adoption journey.