Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Exciting Times!

Today was a very exciting day for us as we had our Home Study interview with our social worker! The anticipation for the meeting just made the whole day feel exciting for us...even while we went about our normal lives early in the day. The interviews went great and we enjoyed the time. Something she said really struck us both as yet another sign that we are doing what God has called us to do...She said that she does a lot of Home Studies and for some countries she can't include anything about their faith or religion because those countries aren't free to worship like we are BUT the Philippines believe so strongly in Christian values, and who we are and all of our documents are about our faith and it is a perfect match! She actually said that we are a 5-star family and will be considered as such there as well! Wow! I'm just amazed at God's goodness! We will meet with her again on March 19th to review our Home Study Report.

Our dossier is now pretty much complete. We have everything compiled, except for our Home Study report. The last thing I need to do is mount our pictures on the paper, label them, and we are good to go!! It feels so good to have such a major project completed. By the way, our psychological evaluations came back and we are both normal! My boss asked me if I didn't mistake the Psychologist for saying that my name was Abby Normal! LOL! (If you don't get the joke, watch Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.)

On the fundraising front, things are going better than I could have imagined so far. We still have a ways to go but again I'm amazed at the support of all of our friends and family. Together with my scarves and Courtney's scarves we have hit the 100 mark. I would have never dreamed that we could sell that many. I still have a few orders left to be filled too! I have now shipped my scarves to Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania! I am actually doing a craft fair here in Omaha on April 6th...last year there was over 3,000 people that attended. I plan on making 100 scarves to take along. This weekend I'm having a "scarfing" party with Courtney and my friend, (and best babysitter ever) Kerstyn, to start cutting and sewing!! If you are interested in a scarf just let me know! Here are a couple of pictures of the new materials I've been using.

And here is a picture of the Mommy/Daughter sets:
Again, I just want to thank everyone for following along with our journey, for your prayers, and financial support. This journey is so exciting for us but it wouldn't be nearly as much if it weren't for all those coming along with us. If you'd like to be praying along with us, we are currently praying that our dossier will be approved (quickly) and we will be matched with the perfect child (for us). We are also praying that the time frame for the match will be much quicker than the estimates that are currently out there!