Home Study: Things have been really busy around here! In
March, we were really busy with home studies and our “Make a Difference with
Mary Kay” fundraiser. For those who are
not familiar with adoption, an agency has to interview you to determine that
you and your home is fit to have a child. These are some of the proofs that we had
to show (either to AGAPE or to Christian Homes) before the home visits:
1. At least 6 hours each of parenting courses.
2. Documentation of CPR/First Aid (especially for
infants)
3. Fingerprinting/Background Checks (in TX and TN)
4. Statement of Good Health from physicians stating that
we were fit to be parents
5. SEVERAL references (evidently our references had to
send at least 2) from a variety of ministry leaders, church members, and
friends discussing our character and “potential parenting.”
6. Detailed information about family members
7. Detailed information about our financial history,
medical insurance, life insurance, monthly budgets, savings/investments, etc.
Needless to say, after we completed this information for
both CHFS and AGAPE (and that is not the complete list!) we were exhausted.
Then we had to go through 4 home visits that reviewed topics such as marriage,
parenting, future planning, finances, childhood, employment, etc. We have heard
from others that they had marathon visits, but luckily our visits were anywhere
from 45 minutes to a little over an hour. We were able to get these visits back
to back, so it was good because we were able to do them quickly. However, it
just made us more tired! Ha!
The visits were good in that they made us think about
what we would need to do if something happened to either of us. For example, if
I got pneumonia again, who would help Joel take care of our child if he is
working full time/coaching? Also, we had to show them that we would comply with
“childproofing” our house, so we had to follow guidelines regarding gun locks,
smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, child locks, etc.
Grants: We are finished with the visits, so now we are waiting
for approval. We should have our information by mid-April which is perfect
timing for our grant applications. Due to the costs, we are fundraising in
addition to writing for grants. You have to show an approved home study when
you submit your grant, but you have to wait awhile to learn if you received the
grant. So it is a big rush to get them done but then you have a 2-3 month
waiting time. I am part of a facebook group for adoptive/foster families, and
they have been a great resource for grants, fundraisers, etc.
Fundraisers: Our “Make a Difference With Mary Kay”
campaign was awesome!!! We sold almost $1700 in retail, which is way more than
I imagined. Depending on the final numbers, we raised between $650-$700 with
this fundraiser. We are on our way to that $13,500 goal!!!
We still have our shirts for sale…..haven’t really talked
about them lately. Our link is http://www.adoptionbug.com/shoresfamily/. There are some cute “family” Tshirts as well as Show Hope shirts.
We are having our garage sale on May 4th. We
are accepting donated items now……several of you have donated already. We are
accepting just about anything, so let us know!
Several of you have expressed interest in ensuring that
all of your donation goes directly to us, so you have taken advantage of the
tax deductible option or just sent us money. That option is still available and
would be happy to walk you through it.
Adoption/Orphan Care: I have had several people contact me in the past 2 months
about adoption…..wanting to know more about it, thinking about doing it, or
maybe adoption is the only way that married couples can start a family. No
matter what you do, supporting orphans (some people would refer to them as the “least
of these” or “the fatherless”) is asked of us by God. How you honor this call
is a decision between you (or your family) and God. Each person is different,
and those choices and decisions are very personal. Here are some of the ways in
which you can do so:
1. support your local public adoption agency (ours is
DCS) by offering to be foster parents. Encourage your church to initiate a
relationship or partner with other churches to support DCS and those families
through events (graduations, holidays, etc).
2. fund adoption grants (people like us need people like
you!!!) We are sponsors of Show Hope who has adoption grants (www.showhope.org)
3. sponsor a child from an orphanage (my friend and
sister sponsor a child from Ethiopia through Children’s Hope Chest (http://www.hopechest.org/)
4. love the children next door whose mom works 2 jobs
just to afford rent. Those children need so much love and support (and so does
that mom!)
5. adopt of course! :)
Our next blog will hopefully be about our adoption photo album. Have a blessed Easter!!
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