OUR HOME STUDY IS FINISHED!
It's official. Our completed home study is IN. THE. MAIL!
There are a couple reasons why we're so excited:
1) We're done, ha! I know that may sound both silly and obvious but we started our home study on March 8th, buckled down and worked on it daily until mid-April and then waited... and waited... and waited! While the first half of seemingly unending paperwork was overwhelming at times, the second half of waiting with nothing to do was almost harder. It took 84 days from start to finish and we're. finally. done. Hallelujah!
2) We're cleared to begin considering children on the Waiting Child List! Without a pregnant belly or even a photo of a child + weeks with no paperwork to fill out, I confess that some of the days in the last 6 weeks I totally forgot that we were adopting! It can be so intangible at times. We've been praying for whomever the Lord has for us but, if I'm honest, I feel a little silly when we do simply because it's so surreal. I'm excited to finally be able to look at the Waiting Child List and pray over children's faces knowing that the Lord will reveal in time who Varner #3 is.
3) We're already prepared to complete the next round of paperwork! The next step in the adoption is sending in our I-800A application to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). This form will determine our eligibility to adopt from a Hague Convention country (of which China is). I was able to prepare all of that paperwork ahead of time but it needs our completed home study report before I can officially drop it in the mail. You can bet I already have the envelope addressed and stamped! As soon as our home study arrives, it's going right back to the post office headed to the USCIS!
So. Of the milestones we have to hit in the adoption process, steps 1 & 2 are complete!
- Initial application (accepted Feb. 26th)
- Home Study (started Mar. 8th, completed May 31st)
- I-800A <-- We're here!
- Dossier
- Referral (if we're not already matched with a child)
- Travel
And with milestone #3 practically ready to go, I'm feeling like half-way is on the horizon. Even without knowing who the Lord has for us, the last three and a half weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster. While it was a little too fresh to write about a few weeks ago, I'm looking forward to sharing some of the more personal sides of adoption with you in the coming blog posts.
Thanks for everyone's congratulations, well wishes, and encouragement! I know we may not show it at times, but some days we need it more than you know 💛
Much love,
Brooke
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